^^"V 

^ ^ 





<y , t • « 













^ ♦ jAWAi <• ^r. <& * fills ' ^ .^ 



* ,*^ ^^ 










,-t°^ 










0'«< > * 


























'To ♦ « :. o » A^ 




o\ ^T/,*' .0 



Brown, (C. J.) rractlcai Writing Portfolio, consisting of the most ap- 
proved form of Writing- Boole, combined with Penholder and Pen, Pen- 
wiper, Blotter, and Killed Slope Lines, all iu one book. The exclusive 
manufacture of this popular writing book has been transferred to me. 

Five numbers, each 25 

Extra paper, pej set of 12 sheets 64 

Copies, per set of 24 for each number 05 

Backliam {Henry B.) Handbook for Youuij Teachers. First Steps. Cloth, 

18ino. pp. 152 7S 

Biiell (C. J.) The t^tcments of Education. Paper, 16mo, pp 25 15 

BuMetin Blank Speller. Designed by Principal H. B. Buckham, Butfalo 

JSTorinal vScliool, Boards, 5?4x T'/zromid corners, pp. 40 1^ 

Speiling Pads, 7U pages, Eacl) 10 

- — Book-Keeping Bhukks. Day-Book, Journal, Ledger, Casli-Book, Sales 

book. Ill sets or singly. Press-board, 7x85/2, pp. 28. Each..,..s 15 

— - Composition Book. Manilla, 7x9, pp. 44 15 

^ — Class Register. Designed by Edward Smith, Superintendent of Schools, 
'Syracuse, N. Y. Press-board covers, T/iree Si^es, (a) 6x7, for terms of 
twenty weeks. (Z>) 5x7, for terms of fourteen weeks. When not otherwise 

specified the smaller size is always senU Pp. 48 .25 

(c) 'Like (b) but ivith one half more (72) pag s 35 

School Ruler, Two Styles (a) Manilla, 12 inch, (b) Cardboard, 6 inch. 

Each 3 cents. Per hundred 1 on 

Bui-cliHi-d (O. R.) Two months in Europe. Paper. 12mo, pp.158 ♦.. 50 

Cheney (F.) A Olobe Manual for Scliools. Boards, Kimo, pp. 95 ^50 

Colored. Crayon, for Blackboard, per box of one dozen, nine colors ... "^ 25 
Collins (Hen ry.) The International Date Line. Paper, IGino, pp. 15. . . . ... 15 

Common School Thermometer, in box, postpaid... . .i 50 

Constitution "Of the Uuited States and of N. Y. Cloth, I'^mo., pp. 82 25 

Cooke (Sidney G.> Politics and Schools. Pai er, 8vo., pp. 23 25 

Crai.^ (Asa'H.) The Common Schonl^Question Book. Cloth 12ni(), pp. 340 1 50 

Davis (W. W.) Suggesiionsfor Teaching Fractions. Paper, l2mo, pp. 43.. 25 
Be Graff (E. V.) Practical Phonics. A comprehensive study of Pronun- 
ciation, forming a complete guide to the study of Elementary soulids of 
the English Language, and containing 3,000 words of diflicult pronuncia- 
tion, with diacritical marks according to Webster's Dictionary. Cloth, 

12mo, pp. 108 75 

Pocket Pronunciation Book, containing the 3,000 words of ditHcult pro- 
nunciation, with d acritical marks according to Webster's Dictionary. 
Manilla, l6nio, pp. 47 "... 15 

The School-Boom (^uicZe, embodying the instruction given by the author 

at Teachers' Institutes in New York and other States, and especially 
intended to assist Public School Teachers in the practical work of the 
school-room. Tenth Edition, with many additions and corrections. > 
Cloth, 12mo, pp. 449. , 1 50 

The Song- Budget. A collection of Songs and Music for schools and 

educational gathering*.. Paper, suiall 4to, pp. 72. .' 15 

The School-Room Chorus. A collection of 2" ) Songs, suitable for Public 

and Private Schools. Boards, small 4to, pp 147 35 

Dickinson (J. W.) Limits of Oral Teaching. Paper. 8vo, pj). 8 15 

Diplomas, printed to order from any design luniislied. Sj»ecimens sent. 

' (a) Bond paper, Uk17, f()r2'> 5 00 

•' 50 6.50 

{h) " " i:>;20, " 25 5 50 

" •' " 50. ..y. 8 50 

(c) Parchment. 15.X20, •' 5 , 6(0 

Eacli ailditioual coin^ ., 75 

En>ersou (H. P.) Latin in High Sclmols. Paper, Svo, i)p. 25 

Fai'j»h!»m (Geo. L.) The Senttnce Method ()i leaching iieading, Writing, 

and Spelling. A IVlaiuial for Teachers. Cloib, 12m(>, i>i>. .'".0 50 

Fitch (Josjuia (I.) The Art of Questioning. ZdEddion. Paper. 12jno, pp. iv;. 15 

The Art of Secur'nig Attention. Papt-r. lGm<>. p]). 4'S. ."second edition. 15 

Giffin (Wm. M.) How Not to Teach; or, IJO Things the Tciiclivr should 

isrOT do. Paper, Itimo, pp. 31 :. 15 

Hailmann ( W. N.) Kindergarten Manual. Primary Help» 75 

The New Education. Asummarv of Kindergarten Prlntii)les and 

Methods. Svo, pp. 146. Two series. "Each 2 00 

Heudi-ick (Mary F.) A scries ^f Questions in English and American Litera- 

tur^e, prepared for Clas.s Drill and Private Study. Third Edition Revised - 

Boards, l2nio, pp. 100, interleaved 'Tr. .' 35, 

Hough (F. B.) The Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence. Cloth, 16mo, 

pp. 307 ,, 125 



THH 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION; 



OR, THE 



Principles and Practice of Teaching. 



m FIVE PARTS. 



PART r. ON METHOD AS APPLIED TO EDUCATION.! 

PART II. ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL FACULTIES. 

PART III. ON THE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF DIFFERENT METHODS AND 

SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTION. 
PART IV. ON THE APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO THE 

VARIOUS BRANCHES OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION. 
PART V. ON SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND DISCIPLINE. 



By T. TATE, F.R.A.S. 

With an Introduction by Col. Frx\ncis W. Parkkk. 



/ » ^ FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THIRD LONDON EDITIOJ^, 




SYRACUSE, N. Y. : 

C. W. BARDEEN, PUBLISHER. 

1884. 



LBiOiS 



NOTE BY THE AMERICAN PUBLISHER. 



No English book on education has been oftener called 
for than this during the past five years; but as the 
original edition was exhausted and the publishers did 
not replace it, copies have been wholly unattainable. 
Accordingly, I have re-printed it at Col. Parker's desire 
and from a copy lent me by him, following the English 
edition exactly, even to the paging, but reducing the 
price to $1.50 per copy. It is not, however, stereotyped 
and only one thousand copies have been printed. 



Copyright, 1884, by C, W. Bardeen. 



PREFACK TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 



J venture to present an extract from the Quincy 
Report of 1878 and '79. "The principles of instruc- 
tion that I am trying to make the foundation of all the 
teaching in Quincy were long since discovered and 
established. With a few exceptions in minor points, 
all the eminent writers upon philosophical teaching, 
from Bacon to Spencer, have explained these principles 
and urged their application in practice. There has been 
no famous teacher for the last two hundred years who 
does not owe his fame to the application of them. 
* * * * It may be asked, ' If these principles are 
so simple, and supported by such high authority, why 
are they not well known to the thousands of intelligent 
teachers in this state?' I will answer indirectly by 
stating a fact. Until within a short time the best 
standard works upon education were not to be found 
on the richly loaded shelves of the book-dealer in our 
American Athens." 

Happily a change has taken place in the educational 
world within the last few years. 

^'I sell twenty-five books on education now to one I 
sold five years ago," is the report of one of the most 
prominent booksellers in Boston. 



IV PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN J.DITION. 

All the English pedagogical works taken together 
would make but a comparatively small library, and of 
this small number very tew indeed pretend to discuss 
at any length the fundamental princi23les of teaching. 

Methods and details of methods form the stock in 
trade of most pedagogical writers. These books do 
very little except to perpetuate a useless unending strife 
over methods that differ because the motives that 
determine them differ. The only books that radically 
help are those v/hich discuss profoundly the principles 
and ideals of education. 

When I was a young teacher with some aspirations 
for a situation ^in Boston, that distinguished educator, 
J. D. Philbrick, then Superintendent of the Boston 
Schools, told me that there was a Science of Education 
founded upon mental laws, and that the way to true 
success in teaching could only be found by a close study 
of tliat science. n 

I took his excellent advice, obtained a list of the best 
works on pedagogics and sent to England for them, as 
they could not be bought in this country. 

At the bead of the list stood Tate's Philosophy of 
Education. In re-reading the book I recognize the fact 
that it has given me more substantial aid in teaching 
than any other English work I ever studied. It may be 
that there are better books, but just at that time it was 
ihe book for me. 

Its author was a firm, undaunted believer in the New 
Education. No one can tell what the so-called New 



PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. V 

Education really is from the very fact that many if not 
most of its principles and resulting methods have yet 
to be discovered. We stand on the border-land of dis- 
covery in education. 

If it is impossible to present any adequate idea of 
the New Education, the position of its disciples may be 
easily defined. They believe that there is an immense margin 
between the Jcnoivn and the unlcnoivn in education. The un- 
believers, on the other hand, hold that, with some possi- 
ble exceptions, the march of progress in education has 
closed with them. 

The followers of the New Education count in their 
ranks every great thinker and writer upon education 
from Socrates to Horace Mann, " Who point to higher 
w^orlds and lead the way." Thought that penetrates 
hidden forces in nature and expresses itself in wood, 
iron and steel, has within eighty years revolutionized 
the civilized world ; is it then too much to hope for, 
that when the same mental energy is turned upon the 
evolution of thought and thought power, still more 
wonderful changes will be made ? 

The New Education simply means the thinking, 
thoughtful teacher who has an ideal founded upon the 
vast possibilities of human development, an ideal far 
beyond himself, and outside the reach of methods he 
now uses. 

The stationary followers of the Old Education have 
an ideal they can easily reach, and, having done so, the 
smile of perfect pedantic satisfaction freezes up on 



VI PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 

their faces, a striking manifestation of the utter com- 
plaisancy to be found in limited ideals. 

Very few teachers can read this book without receiv- 
ing fresh inspiration for the highest work ever given by 
the Creator of the human soul to his creatures ; the 
work of guiding the child's being towards a realization 
of the possibilities of growth into goodness and power. 

Francis W. Parker. 

Cook County Normal School^ Feb. 13, 1884. 



PREFACE 



This work is the result of the labour aud reflection of 
many years; it, in fact, embodies the experience of my 
life as a practical educator. It contains an exposition 
of all the leading principles upon which my other works 
on education have been written ; and in order to under- 
stand, fully, tlie drift and purpose of the one, the 
teacher must study the expositions and principles of 
the other. Wherever I have adopted the ideas of 
others, I have always, to the best of my recollection, 
made a due acknowledgement of the obligation. 

I am not acquainted with any work which really 
treats of the philosophy of education in connection 
with the practice of it. Our books on education are 
either too purely speculative, or too exclusively em- 
pirical, and, so called, practical. 

' My most earnest desire is, that this work may be the 
means of directing the attention of the practical edu- 
cator to the philosophy of education, and to the 
development of those systems and methods which are 
best calculated to establish in our schools a thoroughly 
sound and enlightened education. 

T. TATE. 



ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction - - - - - 1 to 7 

PART I.— ON METHOD AS APPLIED TO 
EDUCATION. 

CHAPTER I. 

Methods AND Systems of Instruction. — Definition 
OP Terms, &c. - - - - - - 8—13 

Different Methods and Systems of Education at pres- 
ent employed in Elementary Schools. 

CHAPTER II. 
Importance of Method - - " - - IB— 17 

Method in Education, — in Art,— in Science, — in 
Poetry, — in Oratory, — in Nature. A distinguished 
Teacher must have Method. 
A Glance at the History of Method - • - 17 — 21 
Socrates, — Euclid, — Bacon, — Newton, — Archimedes. . 
Primary Education,— Locke, — Rousseau, — Pesta- 
lozzi, — Lancaster, — Bell,— Government Scheme of 
Education . 
Present Condition and Future Progress of Educa- , 
tion - - - - - ... - 31—31 

Necessity of further Progress. Educators divided into 
two Classes. The Baconian Philosophy considered 
in relation to the Progress of Modern Education. 



X CONTENTS. 

I'AGK 

Philosophy of Method - • - 31—51 

Education based on an Induction of Facts. The 
Principles of Method considered subjectively as 
well as objectively. Difficulties peculiar to the 
Inquiry. Importance of Definitions. Collection 
of Facts. To distinguish between Facts and Opin- 
ions. Comparison and Classification of Facts. 
Relation of Cause and Effect. General Principles. 
Evils of implicit Confidence in Method. Experi- 
ments required to test Systems and Methods. To 
estimate the Results of Method. 



CHAPTER III. 

To ASCERTAIN THE NATURE OF THE BeING TO BE EDU- 
CATED. General Facts relating to the Devel- 
opment OF THE Intellectual Faculties - - .53—55 

Primitive Intelligence as shown in Perception and 
Intuition, considered as the Basis of Develop- 
ment --.--. - 55—60 

Sensation, Reflection, and Intuition. The infant Soul 
contains implicitly all the Faculties of the devel- 
oped Intelligence. 

Classification of the Faculties of the Mind - 60—69 
Four distinct Stages of Development. Classification 
of the Faculties of the Mind as a whole. Classifi- 
cation of the Intellectual Faculties. Explanatory 
Remarks.— First Stage,— the Perceptive Faculties. 
— Second Stage, — the Conceptive or Representative 
Faculties. — Third Stage, — the Cognitive Faculties. 
— Fourth Stage,— the Cogitative Faculties. 

Essential Points to be considered in relation to 
Method as applied to Education - - - 70 — 81 
1. Nature of the Faculties. (1.) The peculiar Func- 
tion of each Faculty. (2.) Mutual Relation of the 
Faculties — Relation of Succession — Relation of 



CONTENTS. XI 

I'AGK 

Assimilation — Relation of Aggregation. (3.) The 
Faculties considered with respect to their simulta 
neous Action and Cultivation. 

•2. The Subjects best adapted for the Cultivation of 
the different Faculties. 

S. Nature of Motives acting on each class of Facul- 
ties. 

4. The Habits of Action to be established in relation 
to each Class of Faculties. 

5. The Methods of Instruction adapted to each Class 
of Faculties. 

6. Application of Kesults to the different Periods of 
Education; Five Educational Periods, — Infancy, 
—Early Childhood,— Childhood, -Early Youth. 
—Youth. 

CHAPTER IV. 

General Principles of Teaching, or Elements of 

Method - - - - - -81-131 

We should follow out the Intentions of Nature. 
Principle of Utility and Development. Principle 
of Harmonious Development. Instruction should 
be progressive. Principle of Self-development. 
We should appeal to the Senses. The Reasoning 
Faculties should be cultivated on an enlarged 
Basis. Teaching from the Simple to the Com- 
plex. Facts taught before Causes, &c. The Con- 
crete before the Abstract. Constructive Teach- 
ing. Principles before Rules. Oral and Collective 
Teaching — Principles of School Classification. 
Instruction should give Pleasure — to secure the 
Attention — the Principle of School Routines — 
First or Preliminary Lessons— The Infant School 
System — Imposition of Tasks — School Discipline. 
Thorough Teaching — Reproduction of Lessons — 
Examples and Applications — Reiterations of Les- 
sons. Cultivation of Habits. 



XU CUISTENTS. 

PART II.— ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE 
INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL FACULTIES. 

CHAPTER I. 

I'A«K 

Pkeliminaky Notions - - . . 132—142 

Importance of, Psychological Analysis in relation to 
Teacbing.V'A Glance at our Childhood and Early 
Youth, A Cursory View of our Intellectual 
and Moral Faculties, as regards their Mode of 
Development. 

CHAPTER 11/ 

Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties. — 
Cultivation of the Perceptive Faculties ani> 
OP the Faculties of Primitive Judgment, 
Conception, Imitation, Abstraction, and Lan- 
guage ---... 143—151 
The Senses. Knowledge derived from Experi- 
ence. The Cultivation of the Senses necessarily 
includes the cultivation of the Perceptive Fac- 
ulties. Certain Properties detected by differ- 
ent Senses. Children should express in Lan- 
guage the Results of their Observations and 
Judgments, The Conceptive Faculties should 
be cultivated with the Perceptive Faculties. 
Notes of a Lesson for cultivating the Conceptive 
Faculties. Definition of Terms— of Form, &c., 
how given. Children should write their ideas 
in their own Language. 

CHAPTER IIL 

Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties, con- 
tinued.— Cultivation OF THE Faculty op At- 
tention ----.. 151 — 16T 

Importance of the Habit. Attention should be 
voluntary. Suggestive Teaching. Causes which 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

VAGK 

tend to destroy the Habit. Ficsb Motives, &c. 
Mode of treating Boys of different Tempers, 
Tastes, and Talents,— the Feeble— the Sluggish 
— the Volatile — the Timid— the Quick. A 
Digression on Thought, Language, and Genius. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties, con- 
tinued.— Cultivation OF Memory and Recol- 
I.ECTI0N - - - - - - 167—202 

Memory influenced by Attention, Habits, and Asso- 
ciations. Philosophical Associations. Rules for 
the Cultivation of Memory, applied to various 
Subjects of Instruction., in the Course of which 
the Method of Contrast and Comparison, and 
that of picturing out Scenes, are fully ex- 
plained. 

CHAPTER V. 

Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties, con- 
tinued.— Imagination and Taste - - - 203—207 
Imagination dependent on Culture. The Picture 
Style of Teaching. The Imagination cultivated 
by Poetry, Fables, and Tales. The Sentiment of 
the Beautiful cultivated by Drawing and Music. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties, con- 
tinued. — Reason and Judgment; Wit and In- 
vention - - - - ... 208—231 
General Principles for the Cultivation of the Rea- 
soning Powers. Relations of Things and Events, 
viewed in six Distinct Aspects. How processes 
of Reasoning should be analyzed. Sources of 
False Reasoning painted out. Rules for the 
Conduct of the Understanding. How to foster 
the Development of the Inventive Powers. 



X\y COls'TENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 
Cultivation of the Moral Faculties 

General Principles. Moral Training based on 
Religion. The Sentiments of Veneration and 
Faith. The Benevolent Affections. Habits of 
Action. Influence of Example. The three 
Cardinal School Virtues: Truthfulness— Honesty 
—Humility. Classification of Subjects in rela- 
tion to the Cultivation of the Intellectual and 
Moral Faculties. 



PART III.— ON THE COMPARATIVE ADVAN- 
TAGES OF DIFFERENT METHODS AND SYS- 
TEMS OF INSTRUCTION. 

Systems OP Instruction .... 250- 
The Individual and Collective Systems. Home 
Education. The Pupil-Teacher System. The 
Mixed System. 

Methods OF Instruction - - - - 254- 

Synthetic and Analytic Methods. Examples of 
the Synthetic and Analytic Methods of Teaching. 
Interrogative or Catechetical Method. Principles 
and Rules common to the two Forms of Interro- 
gation — Special Rules for ExaminationQuestions 
— Special Principles and Rules relative to Sug- 
gestive Interrogation. Examples of good and bad 
Examination Questions.— Examples of Sugges- 
tive Interrogations. — The Simultaneous Method 
— Examples of Simultaneous Teaching after the 
Catechetical Method— The Elliptical Form of 
Teaching — Examples. The Constructive Meth- 
od. The Illustrative Method. The Lecturing 
Method. Mixed Method. On the Reproduction 
of Lessons in Writing. On certain Plans or 



COJi TENTS. XV 

1'A<;k 
Artifices for economizing Time, &c. — An Ex- 
amination Lesson on Spelliog— An Examination 
Lesson on Arithmetic. Respective Advantages 
of the three Great Methods of Examination. 
On the Preparation of Lessons — Notes of a 
Lesson. On the Periodical Examination of 
Classes and the Registration of Progress. On the 
Qualifications of the Schoolmaster in relation to 
his Professional Duties— The Teacher's Attain-^ 
ments — The Teacher's Capabilities and Charac- 
ter — Aptitude for Teaching,, On School Regis- 
ters for recording the Result of Different 
Methods of Instruction, and also for testing the 
Capabilities of Teachers in relation to these 
Methods. General Conclusions derived from the 
Writer's Registration of the Results of Methods, 
&c. 



PART IV.— ON THE APPLICATION OF DIF. 
FERENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO THE 
VARIOUS BRANCHES OF ELEMENTARY ED- 
'UCATION. 

The Scriptures; History; &c. - - - 2S5— 288 

Reading and Spelling; Etymology; Grammar - 288 — 294 

Specimen of a Reading Lesson. The Look and 
Say Plan — The Phonic Plan. On teaching the 
Alphabet, &c. Grammar more fully considered 
— Lessons on Grammar — Lessons on Composition 
and the Analysis of Sentences. 

Arithmetic -..-.. 294—297 

Lessons on the Addition of Fractions. Lesson on 
Rule of Three. Mental Arithmetic. 

Geography - - ^- . - - 297—298 



XVI OONTKls'TS. 

Drawing ... ... 

General Principles and Rules. Model Drawing— 

Dupuis' System. 
Writing ..-..- 

Practical Geometry and Mensuration 

Drawing Instruments, &c. Lessons on Geometry 

— Observations relative to Familiar Modes of 

Exposition. 
Algebra. A Lesson on Equations - - - 313, 

Mechanical and Physical Science. A Lesson on 

Chemistry. , . - - 314- 

Natural History - . - . - 316- 



PART V.-ON SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND 
DISCIPLINE. 

School Buildings and Fittings, School Appa- 
ratus — List of Apparatus for General Use — 

Routines of Lessons. - . - - 320— S'^B 

Classification. The Puph.-Te ackers - - 323—335 

School Discipline , Order, &c. - • - 325—330 



THE 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION; 



THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING, 



INTRODUCTION. 



As man is not only a physical, but also a thinking and an 
accountable being, so therefore education, in its compre- 
hensive sense, may be viewed in three aspects — that is, 
in relation to our physical, intellectual, and moral nature. 
I here propose to consider the last two departments of 
education; to determine, if possible, the best methods 
whereby our nature may be educated intellectually and 
morally. The end of all education should be, to promote 
man's happiness, not only during his present transitory 
existence, but throughout the eternity which is to follow. 
The principal means of education in this country are 
— school instruction,books, public lectures and discourses, 
and exhibitions of works of science and art. But the effi- 
ciency of all the j^opular means of education are depen- 
dent upon, and in fact inseparably connected with, the 
primary instruction of the schoolroom. The treasures 
of our literature and science are inaccessible to him who 
has not been taught the first rudiments of language. 
Hence it is, that the brilliant productions of the poetic 
genius, or the gigantic creations of the science of any 
particular age, afford us no data for estimating the state 



2 PHILOSOPHY OF EDLCATIOX. 

ef education among the mass of the people of that age. 
On this subject John Forster eloquently observes : — 
"Long after the brilliant show of talent, and the creation 
of literary supplies for the national use, in the early part 
of the last century, the deplorable mental condition of 
the people remained in no very great degree altered. To 
pass from beholding that bright and sumptuous display 
in order to see what there was corresponding to it in the 
subsequent state of the popular cultivation, is like going 
out from some magnificent apartment, with its lustres, 
music, refections, and assemblage of elegant personages, 
to be beset by beggars in the gloom and cold of a winter 
night." 

The schoolmaster must begin the work of education. 
The subject of method, therefore, should be treated 
chiefly in relation to the work of the schoolmaster. 

Education is a Science as well as an Art. 

Practical teachers, as well as the public generally, 
had, until recently, regarded education more as an art 
than as a science, consisting merely of a few arbitrary 
and empirical rules which may be modified or altered 
to suit the tastes and attainments of the teacher, or to 
answer the opinions and circumstances of the managers 
of schools. This unfortunate prejudice has, no doubt, 
had its origin, to a great extent, in the fact that the 
greater portion of the teachers were unfit for their office. 
Few minds were capable of viewing education- apart 
from its miserable and unworthy representatives, or dis- 
sociating it from the operation of the schools which came 
within the sphere of their own immediate observation. 

Twenty years ago, anybody was considered good 
enough for a schoolmaster. If a tradesman failed in 
business, he was thought to be learned enough for a 
schoolmaster; a feeble, sickly youth, who was not con- 
sidered strong enough to practise any regular trade, was 
thought to be sufficiently qualified to undertake the 
duties of school keeping; if a mechanic happened to get 
a limb fractured he would, as a matter of course, save 



EDUCATION AS A SCIENCE, ETC. 3 

himself from starvation by opening a school; when a 
man who had seen better clays applied to the parish 
officers for out-door relief, they gravely debated the 
question, whether it was more expedient to send him to 
the quarry to break stones, or to confer upon him the 
office of parish schoolmaster.* Such was the low es- 
timate formed of the qualifications requisite for a school- 
master. This state of things, doubtless, tended to re- 
tard the progress of education both as a science and an 
art, for the odium attached to the office, as well as the 
insufficiency of the remuneration, prevented properly 
qualified persons from undertaking the duties. But 
within the last fifteen years, a change in public opinion 
has been gradually taking place: the working and 
middle-classes have been lead to see the value of a sound 
elementary education, and thereby to estimate more 
highly the difficulties and importance of the duties of 
the common schoolmaster. This salutary change is in 
a great measure due to the government schemes of edu- 
cation. I confidently hope that the day is not distant 
when the force of public opinion will elevate education 
into the rank of a recognized science. 

Elementary education has two great ends: 1. To de- 
velop the intellectual and moral faculties; or, in other 
words, to develop the faculties of the perfect man; 
2. To communicate to the pupil that sort of knowledge 
which is most likely to be useful to him in the sphere 
of life which Providence has assigned him. 

The science of education must be based upon the 
nature of the being to be educated; that is to say, upon 
the laws which govern the development of the intellectual 
and moral faculties. These laws may be determined as 
well by observation as by psychological analysis. 

Every faculty of our nature has its proper period and 
peculiar mode of development. 



* In the towns of Newcastle and Gateshead, twenty-five years 
ago, two schoohnasters had wooden legs,— one had a cork leg, two 
went upon crutches, two were little better than deformed dwarfs, and 
not a few were " sticklt ministers " and hroken-down tradesmen. 



4 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

Now the philosophical educator will always suit his 
methods of instruction to the age of his pupils, or rather 
to the state of the intellectual and moral development 
of the faculties of his pupils; and he will also administer 
to them that intellectual aliment, both as to kind and 
degree, which is best calculated to promote the growth 
of the faculties at their different stages of development. 
Method, and the principles of method, therefore, neces- 
sarily become to him distinct and all-important matters 
of inquiry. 

A good teacher, before laying down any plans for 
the management of his school, makes himself acquainted 
with the tempers, habits, capabilities, and attainments of 
his pupils. He then asks himself the two great ques- 
tions; — What shall I teach? How shall I teach ? He 
is well aware that these questions cannot be satisfac- 
torily answered without a thorough knowledge of the 
nature of the beings whom he has to teach, as well as a 
comprehensive acquaintance with the various methods 
whereby instruction may be communicated. 

All artificial and unnatural methods of instruction, 
violating the laws of mind, necessarily demand the use 
of unhealthful stimulants. There is always a want of 
organization in schools where the plans and methods 
of the master are framed without any regard to the 
constitution of the human mind, or the peculiar tempers, 
tastes, and capabilities of the pupils: such masters al- 
ways blame their pupils for the failures of their system, 
but never seem to be aware that the excellence of a 
system depends upon its adaptation to the intellectual 
and moral conditions of these pupils. A teacher Avho 
is ignorant of human nature, is like an engineer who 
sets to work to erect a bridge before he has made him- 
self acquainted with the properties of the material em- 
ployed in the structure; w^hen his work is completed, 
he finds, perhaps, that the material is ruptured by the 
pressure, or by the expansion due to heat; it is true, 
he might console himself with the reflection that his 
plan would have been excellent if it had not been for 
the j)eculiar properties of the material. A wise en- 



EDUCATION AS A SCIENCE, ETC, 5 

gineer would first make himself acquainted with the 
nature and properties of his material, and then, knowing 
the difiiculties which he would have to encounter, he 
would provide against them accordingly. In like manner 
the teacher who is thoroughly acquainted with the laws 
regulating the juvenile mind, suits his methods of in- 
struction to the soul which he has to rear, and, fuUy 
forseeing the difficulties which he has to encounter, 
lays his plans accordingly, — he is quite prepared to 
supply strength to what may be weak, and to introduce 
a self-corrective agency to meet any ebullitions of temper 
or waywardness of disposition. 

Our ignorance of mental philosophy haa hitherto led 
us into various erroneous methods and systems of edu- 
cation. The teacher showed an ignorance of the tastes 
and capabilities of the infant mind, when he overtasked 
his juvenile pupils with the dull, dry detail of technical 
learning, in the place of communicating to them that 
kind of knowledge which is best cahndated to foster the 
development of their perceptive and observing faculties. 

Teachers, in their ignorance, at one time believed 
that the first object of primary iiristruction is to cultivate 
the verbal memory of their pupils, when, in fact, the 
verbal memory is one of the few faculties of our nature 
which need no cultivation. This erroneous opinion led 
to the adoption of the task system. In accordance with 
this system, little boys had to commit to memory fright- 
ful columns of spelling, long paragraphs of geography, 
abstract grammatical definitions, declensions of nouns, 
and conjugations of verbs. The debasing system of 
rewards and punishments formed a necessary adjunct to 
this unnatural system of instruction. 

In this system the cultivation of the reasoning powers 
was entirely disregarded, and the aids of philosophical 
memory, or the faculty of association, were never called 
in requisition. 

The same erroneous opinion of human nature led to 
the adoption of the rule and rote system of instruction, 
whereby the pupil had to work out results by formulas 
and dogmas rather than by the independent and health- 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



ful exercise of his own reasoning powers. For example, 
in the teaching of arithmetic and practical geometry, 
the pupil was required to work out his problems by a 
rule appealing to his memory and simple apprehension, 
rather than by the exercise of his own reasoning powers. 

These unnatural methods of instruction have given 
rise to our debasing systems of discipline. Under a 
proper system of teaching, children rarely require any 
other motive to attention than the pleasure which the 
acquisition of knowledge affords them; but what na- 
tural motive can induce a child to study what is above 
his capacity, or to commit to memory what he cannot 
comprehend ? hence the teacher's only resource was to 
act upon the vanity or upon the fear of his pupils. 

The art of of education consists in the practice of its 
principles. It stands in the same relation to the science 
of education, that any other art does to the scientific 
principles of that art. A man may be thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the prmciples of any particular art, 
without being an adept in the practice of it; in order 
to become this, he must practise the art until he has ac- 
quired the requisite amount of tact and skill. At the 
same time, it must be observed, that the highest amount 
of skill can only be obtained by a thorough knowledge 
of the principles of the art, combined with the constant 
application of these principles. Thus, for example, a 
man may be thoroughly acquainted with the principles 
of architectural construction, and yet he may not be 
able to frame a door, or to build a shed., In like manner 
a man may be intimately acquainted with all the leading 
principles of education, and yet, at the same time, he 
may not be able to give efficient instruction to a class 
of little boys. It is a lamentable error to suppose that 
if a man has knowledge he must necessarily possess the 
art of communicating that knowledge. In order that a 
man may become a good teacher, he must not only be 
thoroughly acquainted with the various branches of 
elementary education, and intimately acquainted with 
the great leading scientific principles of education, but 
he must also acquire that tact and skill in the manage- 



DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT. 7 

ment of numbers and classes, and that fluency of diction, 
power of illustration, and facility of availing himself of 
contingent circumstances, which can only be attained by 
long practice and patient study. 

The art of education, without a due regard to its 
science, degenerates into empiricism ; and tbe science, 
without the practice of the art, becomes little better 
than a code of barren abstractions without the vital 
principle of development. 

The philosophy of education should go hand in hand 
with the practice of it ; — every step of advance taken 
by the one, should be followed by a corresponding pro- 
gress of the other : philosophy should suggest plans and 
theories, art should test them and try them : philosophy 
should build up a structure of general principles and 
rules ; art should supply the facts — the materials — by 
which, and upon which, this structure should be reared. 

Division of the Subject. 

The philosophy of education may be divided into five 
parts : — 

1. On method, as applied to education. 

2. On the cultivation of the intellectual and moral 
faculties. 

3. On the comparative advantages of different systems 
and methods of education. 

4. On the application of different systems and methods 
to the various branches of elementary education. 

5. On school organization and discipline. 



PHILOSOPFIY OF EDUCATION. 

Part I. 
ON METHOD AS APPLIED TO EDUCATIOK 



CHAPTER I. 

METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTION.-DEFINITION OF TERMS, ETC. 

Different llethods and Systems of Education at present em- 
ployed in Elementary Schools. 

By a METHOD of education is meant the peculiar way 
in which a subject is taught ; and by a system is meant 
those peculiar arrangements, both as to organization and 
modes of teaching, whereby instruction generally may 
be given to the pupils of a school. A system is the de- 
velopment of a method applied to certain objects. 

A difference of opinion at present exists relative to the 
use of the the term method as applied to education. Ac- 
cording to some writers, method simply means the way 
in which a subject of instruction may be treated; so 
that there are only two methods of education, namely, 
Synthesis and Analysis. Such a restrictive use of the 
term is not only based on a contracted view of the sub- 
ject, but it does not give the entire conception usually 
associated with the term. We use the term in a more 
comprehensive sense : A method of teaching compre- 
hends, not merely the way in which the subject-matter 
is treated, but also the means, artifices, forms of expres- 
sion, &c., that are employed in conveying instruction to 
a class of children in a common school. 

There are two great methods whereby a subject may 
be treated, viz., Synthesis and Analysis. By the 
former method we put the parts of a subject together ; 
by the latter we take the subject-matter to pieces. The 
method of synthesis is the method of induction, whereby 



SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS. 9 

we ascend step by step from the simple to the complex: 
— from the particular to the general formula ; the meth- 
od of analysis is the method of deduction, whereby 
we descend from the abstract principle to the various 
particular forms which it comprehends. As both meth- 
ods are employed in the discovery of truth, so both 
methods may be used in the exposition of truth. The 
experimentalist may show the composition of water syn- 
thetically by holding a tumbler over the flame of a 
candle (or a flame of hydrogen gas)^ at the same time 
calling attention to the moisture that is formed on the 
interior surface of the glass ; or, more exactly, by de- 
tonating, by means of the electric spark, the proper 
mixture of hydrogen and oxygen ; in these experiments 
water is formed by the combination of its elements : — 
he may also show the composition of water analytically 
by means ol' the galvanic battery ; in this case the poles 
of the btittery analyze or decompose the water, that is, 
reduce it to its simple elements, the hydrogen being at- 
tracted by the one pole, and the oxygen by the other. 
We teach arithmetic deductively, or analytically, when 
we lay down a general rule and require our pupils to 
work out the particular example by that rule, for in this 
case we proceed from the general formula to the par- 
ticular example — from the abstract principle to its spe- 
cial application. On the contrary, we teach arithmetic 
inductively, or synthetically, when we proceed at once 
to work out, step by step, the particular example from 
certain simple, known elementary principles, without 
taking any abstract rule for granted : in this case the 
pupils are led to prove the rule for themselves. 

The method of synthesis is constructive ; by this 
method the skilful teacher builds up thought upou 
thought — truth upon truth — until his pupils have, 
almost insensibly,acquired a vast accumulation of knowl- 
edge. I have called the method of synthesis a con- 
structive METHOD, because it is analogous to the way 
in which mechanical contrivances are completed : thus, 
the ingenious builder lays stone upon stone, beam upon 
beam, until he has reared a vast and beautiful structure, 



10 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

exciting, it may be, the wonder and admiration of the 
world : in this way, too, surprising results may be at- 
tained in education. 

Synthesis may be called a suggestive method of 
instruction; because.it is progressive, proceeding, step 
by step, from the known to the unknown, — from the 
simple to the complex. 

By far the larger number of the great physical laws 
of nature were discovered by induction, and even many 
of our leading mathematical theorems and principles 
were established by the same process. Now if it be true 
(and we have reason to believe that it is true) that the 
method of exposition should correspond to the method 
of discovery, it follows that the method of induction or 
synthesis is, for the most part, the more eligible for 
primary instruction. At the same time, it must be 
observed, that there are certain subjects of knowledge 
which maybe efficiently taught by the method of analy- 
sis. But this subject will hereafter receive a more ade- 
quate consideration. 

The methods of synthesis and analysis may be either 
DEMONSTRATIVE Or DOGMATIC. When the teacher uses 
the former method of communicating knowledge, he 
addresses the observing and reasoning faculties of his 
pupils, who believe in what is communicated to them 
because they see it to be true, or because they can prove 
it to be true. On the contrary, when he uses the latter 
method, he appeals to the memory and faith of his 
pupils, who, in this case, believe in what is communi- 
cated to them simply on the testimony of their teacher 
— they believe because their teacher says so. 

Demonstrative teaching embraces all those plans and 
artifices whereby a knowledge of principles may be more 
or less completely communicated to the pupils : on the 
other hand, dogmatic teaching gives rules and formula 
in the place of principles and investigations. 

Besides these general methods of teaching, there 
are certain modes or artifices which have regard to the 
peculiar form or way in which the knowledge is com- 
municated. The INTERROGATIVE METHOD tcachcs by 



DIFFEEEXT METHODS AND SYSTEMS. II 

question and answer; it may be used simply for repro- 
ducing the knowledge which has been already commu- 
jiicated to the pupil, or it may be used in connection 
with the principle of suggestion; and then it assumes the 
form of an important instrument of intellectual culture, 
which may be called the suggestive method of in- 
tee rogation. 

The ELLIPTICAL' form of instruction requires the pupils 
to fill up certain blanks or ellipses, which the teacher 
intentionally leaves in his discourse. This form of 
instruction is only a slight modification of the sug- 
gestive method already mentioned. In both methods 
the teacher and his pupils carry on a sort of tete a tete 
lecture. 

In the SIMULTANEOUS form of instruction, the pupils 
are supposed to give simultaneous responses to the 
teacher's questions or suggestions. This simple arti- 
fice has been sometimes confounded with the collective 
system of instruction, with which it is necessarily asso- 
ciated. 

The iLLUSTEATivE METHOD cousists in conveying a 
knowledge of abstruse things, or even ordinary things, 
by means of illustrations addressed to the senses or to 
the imagination of the learner. 

The lectueing method consists in giving the lesson 
in the form of a continuous lecture, all questions on the 
subject of the lesson being deferred until it is finished^ 

A combination of any of these methods may be called 
a mixed method of instruction. 

The method generally employed by good elementary 
teachers, as shall be hereafter shown, is generally a 
combination of the demonstrative and the synthetic,, 
while that which is usually adopted by sluggish and 
careless masters is a combination of the dogmatic and 
the analytic. 

There are two leading systems of teaching at present 
in use which have regard to number or organization* 
the one may be called the collective system of teach- 
ing, which consists in the teaching of a considerable- 
number at one time; the other the individual system- 



12 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

of teaching, which consists in the teaching of one pupil 
at a time. 

The PUPIL TEACHER systcm, which has been recently 
introduced into this country, may be regarded as forming 
an essential part of the collective system of teaching as 
it is at present practised in our elementary schools. The 
pupil teachers are supposed to follow the same plan of 
teaching as their master, and under his supervision. 
The MONITORIAL SYSTEM of Lancaster and Bell contains 
the essential features of the system of pupil teachers; 
but with this important difference, that whilst the 
MONITOR is merely a boy selected by the master from 
the pupils in his school, the pupil teacher is a paid 
official recognized by her Majesty's Inspectors, and who 
is time after time examined by them, and receives regular 
instruction from the master in all the duties of school 
keeping, with the view of fitting him for the discharge 
of his immediate duties, and also with the view of pre- 
paring him for the profession of schoolmaster. 

The SYSTEM OF home instruction consists in as- 
signing to the pupils certain lessons or exercises to be 
studied or completed at home. This system may be com- 
bined with either of the two leading systems just de- 
scribed. 

The tripartite system, first proposed by Professor 
Moseley, has received its name from the architectural 
arrangements of the school. In this system the school- 
room is divided into three apartments, in one of which 
the master is supposed to teach all the classes in rotation. 
The leading object of this plan is to bring all the chil- 
dren in the school under the direct instruction of the 
master, and to counteract undue noise. 

A combination of any of these systems may be called 
s, mixed system of instruction. 

The word method signifies a way of transit, or the 
way of passing from one thing to another. According 
to the philosophical acceptation of the term it compre- 
hends the idea of unity, associated with progression, or 
a succession of uniform sequences. To arrive at this 
idea, we must exercise the faculties of abstraction, by 



IMFOKTANCE OF METHOD. 1^ 

which we view many thiugs as one; by which we con- 
template not facts only, but likewise the relations of 
facts; by which we recognize the law which connects 
these relations. 

The comparative advantages and defects of the dif- 
ferent methods and systems of teaching will be hereafter 
more fully considered. 



CHAP. II. 

IMPORTANCE OF METHOD.- HISTORY OF METHOD.— PRESENT CONDITION AND 
FUTURE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION.— PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 

Importance of Method. 

There is method in Education. It is a dangerous error 
to suppose that any man may teach if he has only the 
requisite amount of attainments. Can it be possible 
that the art of training and developing the various 
faculties, emotions, and principles of an immortal and 
accountable soul is the only art which we have by in- 
tuition? Is the destiny of the noblest creation of God, 
the immaterial, the thinking, the undying principle, 
fashioned after His own image, to be intrusted to the 
care of him who has never studied the vast and complex 
relations of the task which he undertakes, and who, in 
the impious pride of self-sufficiency, despises the accu- 
mulated experience of those who have spent their lives 
in the work of teaching, and have borne uumistakeable 
testimony to the difficulties which have beset them at 
every step in the discharge of their sacred duties ? 

There is method in Art: the builder and the ma- 
chinist, the manufacturer, the sculptor, the painter, all 
complete their constructions and fabrications on the 
principles and methods which embody the results of 
vast experience, and which have been their constant 
study for the whole period of their lives. There is 



14 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. ^ 

method in Science: there was a want of method when 
the philosophers of antiquity affirmed, that air and water 
were elementary bodies, that the celestial bodies moved 
in circles, of which the earth occupied the center, and 
that water rose in the barrel of the common pump from 
nature's horror of a vacuum ; and even in more recent 
times, the same want of method was shown when Des- 
cartes affirmed that the planetary bodies floated in a 
whirlpool of ether. 

"Who can estimate the marvelous change that has 
been effected by the philosophy of method first proposed 
by Bacon ? Nature, as if at the touch of the enchanter's 
wand, yielded up her treasures of knowledge; physical 
tscience, after the death-like slumber of ages, sprung into 
vigorous existence; and even in our own time, under 
the guidance of this method, mind has achieved the 
most despotic dominion over matter; new sciences have 
been born, far surpassing in utility, beauty, and gran- 
deur all that had been accumulated throughout the past 
history of humanity. 

Poetry has its method. So remarkble is this method, 
that a great poet will by a single word — an idea — open 
to us a whole series of relations and conditions. In 
speaking of the style of Shakespeare, Coleridge ob- 
serves : — " Who, like him, could so methodically suit 
the very flow and tone of discourse to characters lying 
so widely apart, in rank and habits and peculiarities, as 
Holofenies and Queen Katherine, Falstaff and Lear ? 
When we compare the pure English style of Shakespeare 
with that of the very best writers of his day, we stand 
astonished at the method by which he was directed in 
the choice of those words and idioms, which are as fresh 
now as in their flrst bloom; nay, which are at the present 
moment at once more energetic, more expressive, more 
natural, and more elegant than those of the happiest 
and most admired Jiving speakers or writers." 

There is method in Oratory. Who has not felt the 
power of Oratory ? Whence does this power proceed ? 
An eloquent public speaker must always possess method; 
he may be without technical learning, and even without 



IMPORTANCE OF METHOD. 15 

those refinements of manner and diction which usually 
constitute a gentleman; he may be without the prestige 
of rank, or wealth, or party, and even without those 
conventional literary or scientific titles which are too 
often accepted as the badges of superior intellect, or as 
the passports to distinction and power; yet there is 
something in him which rises superior to all these dis- 
advantages, — there is method, based upon a knowledge 
of the tastes and ruling passions of his audience, which 
charms and captivates them by its beauty, convinces 
them by its exactness and transparency, and overawes 
them by its depth and power. Beginning with a simple 
detail of facts, he generalizes, abstracts, and draws con- 
clusions; with a constant regard to the final impression 
which he wishes to produce, he sees from the first what 
will be the effect of each successive step; all nature is 
tasked to supply him with illustrations and analogies, — 
youthful Spring with his freshness and his song, or 
golden Autumn w^ith her stores of fruit and her sheaves 
of corn, — lovely Summer with her flowers and her sun- 
light, or stern Winter with his storms and his shadows, 
— the air, the earth, the ocean, the dread magnificence 
of heaven, — all may be invoked to lend power and en- 
chantment to his discourse; from the world about him 
he rises to the world of thought — from the visible to the 
invisible — and there finds new materials for argument 
and persuasion; having connected argument with argu- 
ment, and added illustration to illustration, he sums 
up the accumulated evidence, in order that it may fall 
with the greatest effect upon the minds of his audience, 
and that they may be convinced of the truth of the lead- 
ing conception, the end and aim of his discourse. In all 
this there is unity with variety, but it is the variety 
which arises out of unity, — this all-pervading idea 
constitutes the method. The intellectual faculties 
which characterize the oratoiy are very nearly allied to 
those which are requisite for forming the distinguished 
teacher. 

Everything in nature has its peculiar method of devel- 
opment; and this development may, in almost every case, 



16 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

be aided and improved by the judicious application of 
the principles of this method. A grain of corn when 
thrown into the soil will germinate, and grow, and bud, 
and ripen into seed, without the special care of man; 
but all these processes Avould be very much aided and 
improved by the application of the methods which agri- 
cultural chemistry has discovered. Just so it is with the 
germ of intelligence — the immatei'ial ])rinciple. It seeks 
to develop itself — it germinates, grows, and blossoms, 
and ripens and expands into developed intelligence,with- 
out the application of any artificial means; but the in- 
telligence thus developed without the aid of culture, is 
that of the savage, not that of the perfect man, capable 
of acting and thinking in accordance with reason, and in 
conformity with the law of his Creator. 

It is true, that many men are born with a predilection 
for teaching, and seem to qualify themselves for the dis- 
charge of its duties with comparatively little study or re- 
flection. Such teachers are exceptions to the rule; and 
there can be little doubt, that even they would have been 
vastly benefited by a study of method as applied to teach- 
ing. It is said that Pascal was born a Geometer, but it is 
very questionable whether we should ever have heard his 
name, had his genius not been cultivated and developed 
by a systematic course of instruction. So it is with 
education; the most distinguished teachers are to be 
found among those who have shown a predilection for 
the work, and whose minds have been at the same time 
constantly directed to a study of methods of education. 

Before a man can become a distinguished teacher he 
must have a method: all that he has seen, or experienced, 
or read, relative to the nature of the being to be 
educated, must have assumed the form of a substantial 
unity — an idea — an all-pervading law which connects 
relations apparently the most dissimilar, and gives 
oneness and harmony to the most heterogeneous mass 
of facts and conditions, — which constitutes his exponent 
o the past, and the symbol of the calculus which 
is to enable him to solve every problem which may 
ar se in the future, — which invokes all his past ex- 



HISTORY OF METHOD, 17 

perience, and out of which he must evolve his conduct 
in the future, — which sheds a light over the path that 
lies behind hira, and becomes the polar star to guide him 
in his voyage on the dark and shoreless ocean that lies 
before him. No language can adequately transmit that 
idea — that method — to other minds ; for it is in him 
merely the key-note with which is associated a long train 
of harmonious combinations and sequences: it exists m 
him alone, and for him alone^ and before others can 
stand on the same vantage ground with him, they must 
give the same patient attention to the philosophy of 
method, and submit themselves to the same strict pro- 
cess of self-examination and self-development. 

We repeat that no man ever yet became a great teacher 
until method had become to him a living and substantial 
reality. This method may, and no doubt does, assume 
forms* suited to the intellectual and moral qualities of 
each individual, even accommodating itself to the idio- 
syncrasy of each, and the varying external conditions 
and circumstances of each; but the grand features of 
this method, like the elements of our physical and moral 
constitution, will be the same in all. 

A Glance at the History of Method. 

Socrates w\as not a great geometer, but he gave a 
method of philosophy which determined the character of 
the schools of antiquity; and the catechetical form in 
which he gave his instruction has been distinguished by 
his name. Euclid probably never discovered a single 
proposition of geometry; but he gave us the idea and 
form of a synthetic method which has shed an effulgence 
of light on the path of philosophy,and which will endure 
as long as there is a human soul to think, a science to be 
cultivated, or a law of nature to be discovered. Bacon 
made no discovery in mathematics, nor did he add one 
fact to our stock of physical knowledge; but he effected 
a greater purpose — he gave us the method of universal 
philosophy: what the one did for a single department of 
abstract science, the other achieved for universal knowl- 



18 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

edge. Newton was a great discoverer in every depart- 
ment of mathematical and physical science; but be also 
gave us, in his " Principia," the embodiment of a syn- 
thetic method of teaching mixed mathematics which will 
probably co-exist with the law of gravitation itself. 
Archimedes was also a great discoverer, but,in a certain 
sense, his genius died with him; he did nothing to per- 
petuate himself, for he had no recognized method, and 
bequeathed to posterity no creative principle beyond the 
isolated facts and propositions which he discovered; his 
mind was essentially individual, and his contempt for 
concrete science,which his mind was eminently qualified 
to adorn, caused the secret of his power to die with him. 

But let us consider the history of method more strictly 
in relation to primary education. 

The ancient classical nations did nothing for primary 
education; they established splendid schools of philos- 
ophy for their young men, but left the instruction of 
their children to slaves, or neglected it altogether; and 
during the middle ages — the epoch of chivalry — the only 
school-room was the cell of the monk or the cave of the 
anchorite. And what was the state of education after 
the Reformation ? From the undue reverence with 
which the works of antiquity were regarded, education 
began with the classics, and for the most part ended 
with them. Poetry wa? clothed in the garment of 
heathen mythology, and even our philosophy was more 
engaged with the history of what was false than with the 
investigation of what was true. Education became a 
series of tasks — the memory was enthroned over all the 
other powers of the mind — reason, invention, and the 
principle of self -development were disregarded; and 
under this unnatural and unphilosophical system, a great 
memory and a great mind became almost synonymous 
terras. This method was analytic and dogmatic, for its 
main element consisted in giving a knowledge of rules 
and words rather than things — of names rather than 
positive ideas. Although the leading principles of 
primary education are contained in the great work of 
the father of inductive philosophy, yet it would appear 



HISTORY OF METHOD. 10 

that their importance was neither felt nor acknowledged 
by his immediate followers. 

Such was the state of education throughout Europe 
when Locke began to write. This distinguished philos- 
opher considered that the chief business of primary 
education is to develop the faculties of the child; that, 
as the first ideas of children are derived from sensation, 
so the perceptive faculties should be the first cultivated 
or developed; and that verbal memory is almost the 
only intellectual power which does not admit of being 
improved by education. Locke's method of education 
was a corollary to bis metaphysical philosophy. It was 
synthetic and demonstrative — its main element being 
the development of the intellectual powers and moral 
feelings through the instrumentality of things or sub- 
jects which might be known and understood by the 
child. The method of Locke soon became recognized 
throughout Europe and America. The author of 
**Emile,"in France, became its most enlightened and 
most eloquent expositor: and Pestalozzi, in Germany, 
carried it into practice, followed it out in all its details, 
and gave the spiritual essence a substantial form — *'a 
local habitation and a name." But in the fatherland of 
the great metaphysician, his method remained for more 
than a century a dead letter, — and even till very recently 
the methods which he exposed and denounced held an 
undisputed dominion in the education of the people in 
this country. But we have accepted from the hands of 
the pupil what we would not receive from the hand of 
the master; and we have unwittingly become the follow- 
ers of Pestalozzi, when we might have been the disciples 
of our own immortal Locke. But why speak of the 
country of Locke ? Great men have no country — they 
belong to humanity. 

To descend to more matter-of-fact,but not less instruc- 
tive forms of method: Joseph Lancaster and Dr. Bell 
contributed to the development of method as applied to 
primary education, when they established the monitorial 
system. No doubt it had long been observed, that the 
older boys might, under certain circumstances, be advan- 



20 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

tageously employed to teach the yoiiDger ones; but the 
idea of organizing such a plan, so as to make it applicable 
to our common national schools, belongs to these men. 
The errors and defects of this system are apparent: 
— its efficiency is subsidiary to, and dependent upon, 
more comprehensive views of method; it ignores the edu- 
cation of the master as well as that of the monitors; and 
necessity rather than choice leads to the adoption of 
these monitors, whose temporary functions,imposed upon 
them by their master, are relinquished at a time when 
their skill is beginning to be useful. Whatever may 
have been the defects of this system, it contained an idea 
which obviously suggested the adoption of the appren- 
ticeship system, or the system of pupil teachers. The 
monitorial system was a measure of economy, adopted to 
mitigate an existing evil — to give the best education to 
the greatest number of children at the least possible cost. 
At best it could be regarded only as preliminary to some 
more complete system. Now, while the apprenticeship 
system embodies this principle of economy, it recognizes 
at the same time an important principle in the philos- 
ophy of method, viz., that the art of teaching, like other 
arts, can only be acquired by practice and an early at- 
tention to the most approved forms of communicating 
our ideas to others. In order that a man may become 
a joiner, or any other kind of mechanic, he is appren- 
ticed, at an early age, to a man who is master of that 
particular art; so, in order that a man may become a 
teacher, he should be apprenticed, at an early age, to a 
schoolmaster who is thoroughly master of his work. 
This apprenticeship system, taken in connection with 
the system of inspection, and the establishment of train- 
ing colleges for schoolmasters, must be regarded as the 
greatest measure which has ever been proposed for the 
education of a people. In these schemes we observe 
the recognition of the importance of method. Univer- 
sities may make scholars, divines, and philosophers; but 
they cannot train schoolmasters. It is the peculiar pro- 
vince of the professors of our training colleges to effect 
this, by expounding the principles of education in rela- 



ITS PRESENT CONDITION AND FUTURE PROGRESS. 21 

tioii to methods of teaching, — by showing the applica- 
tion of these methods in the actual management of a 
school, — and by communicating that kind of knowledge 
which is best calculated to render the teacher useful 
in his profession. When the Committee of Council on 
Education published their Minutes of 1846, they vir- 
tually announced to the world that there was method iic 
EDUCATION, and that no man could become a truly useful 
teacher without a knowledge of that method. Acts of 
Parliament, or legislative engines, cannot of themselves 
make men virtuous and religious; but it is legitimately 
within the range of their power to decree that Ignorance, 
which is the most fruitful source of vice and irrehgion, 
shall exist no longer. 

This government system of education is not in all 
respects what the practical educator could wish; but we 
may hope that experience, aided by a careful induction 
of facts, will in time correct what is wrong and improve 
what is defective. 

Jean Paul Rich ter asks — "What have the political 
vowels of Europe — the English — done for education ?" 
We answer, almost everything! Our great metaphy- 
sicians first gaA^e the true philosophy of method; we first 
adopted the monitorial and infant-school systems; and 
although we have been slow to combine and improve all 
that we have discovered, we have at length organized a 
system of national education w^hich bids fair to become 
the most efiicient that has ever been proposed. 

Present Condition and Future Progress of 
Education. 

In taking a view of the state of education in this 
country, we have much to congratulate ourselves upon. 
We have been silently progressing; methods of educa- 
tion have been improving step by step; but, at the same 
time, we must confess that we have not yet arrived at 
the ne plus ultra. Still much lies before us to be ef- 
fected. Many educational prejudices want to be swept 
away, and many new principles require to be introduced. 



22 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

Notwithstanding, we ought to feel gratified, and to 
congratulate ourselves upon what has been done, as it 
gives us the hope that something more will yet be done. 
"We live in an age of progress: no branch of human 
knowledge but is advancing — ay, with an accelerated 
motion. In our own times new sciences have been 
created, and new departments of art have been brought 
to bear on all conditions of society. The mighty power 
of steam has been developed in our own time. Every- 
thing around us has been advancing; and education 
should advance with the advancement of society. 

Educators may be divided into two classes. There is 
the conservative educator, and there is the educational 
reformer. The conservative educator, like the con- 
servative politician, would wish everything to remain 
as it is and as it has been. The education of fifty years 
past ought to be the education of the present period. 
Things have gone on well enough in the past, and 
why should they not do the same in the future ? Such 
is the view of these educational conservatives. They 
may yield a little to the pressure of public oi:>inion; but 
still the principle remains unchanged in their hearts. 
They may admit, when they are compelled to express 
themselves, that the education of the people will not 
tend to the subversion of government,and in such things 
as that they will go along with you; but still in their 
hearts they are conservative in relation to the advance- 
ment of education. The other class, the educational re- 
formers, advocate utility and progress. They would 
not only have us improve our educational methods, but 
they would have more of the principle of utility intro- 
duced into our schools. They would not have the boys 
in our national schools taught things that are merely 
curious, or things merely to gratify the prejudices of 
particular individuals; but they would have them taught 
those things that will bear upon the future pursuits of 
life. We have not yet attained to that. We still, in 
many of our schools, go on with the old routine — reading, 
writing, arithmetic, with the addition, ad libitum, of 
catechisms and formularies. Day after day the same 



THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. 23 

dull routine goes on. Oh! how the monotony of the dull 
routine deadens the faculties of the children,and not only 
of the children, but of the educator! It is a well-known 
fact, from the statistics of insanity, that in those coun- 
tries where the pursuits of men are most monotonous, 
there we find the greatest prevalence of insanity. It 
appears, therefore, that it is the monotony of tfie pur- 
suits that produces the insanity; and we cannot wonder 
that the intellectual faculties of such schoolmasters 
should retrograde, instead of advance, nor can we won- 
der that the children, constituted as they are by their 
good and great Creator with faculties which lead them 
to seek after a knowledge of the properties and uses of 
the various objects in the world around them, should be 
uninterested in the dull routine in which they are 
engaged. 

The Baconian Philosophy considered in relation to the Progress 
of Modern Education. Utility and Progress should charac- 
terize all our Methods and Systems of Education. 

Bacon was one of the most enlightened educators that 
ever appeared on*the earth, — for his philosophy was as 
fully applicable to the advancement of education as to 
the development of the experimental sciences. 

The spirit of the Baconian philosophy may be charac- 
terized by two words, — utility and progress. The 
ancient philosophy was stationary, because it disdained 
to be useful: It propounded imposing abstract theories 
which had little or no bearing upon the actual condition 
of man in society: — It took its aim at the stars, and 
therefore hit nothing: — It speculated about virtue and 
happiness, but added nothing to the comforts or enjoy- 
ments of human existence: — It professed to reform and 
enlighten the world, but left it as dark and degraded as 
it ever had been: — It was a sort of intellectual gym- 
nasium, in which the faculties were exercised; but this 
intellectual action yielded no work — no fruit — as regards 
the progress of society; the mind revolved in a circle of 
speculative theories, the starting point of to-day became 



24 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOIS. 

the goal of to-morrow, — there was motion, but no pro- 
gress. The command given by this philosophy was, 
"Mark time!" and thus, for two thousand years, the 
human intellect continued to mark time. The father of 
the inductive philosophy gave the command, "Advance!" 
and society, obedient to this command, has multiplied a 
thousandfold its resources of enjoyment and happiness. 
This philosophy was practical — it attempted nothing 
which could not be accomplished, — it aimed at a plain, 
tangible mark, and hit it. It sought to improve the 
sciences by advancing the arts. It took the common- 
sense method of induction, which had from time imme- 
morial been successfully followed by the artisan, as the 
great instrument for advancing philosophy. Its object 
was UTILITY, and its end progress. 

It is not generally known or generally acknowledged 
that Bacon's jDhilosophy, as an inductive philosophy,was 
really derived from the workshop. The inductive prin- 
ciple had been practised for ages by the workman in his 
various processes of art. This was thought unworthy 
of attention by the philosopher of the platonic schools ; 
but Bacon saw that under this inductive principle the 
arts had advanced, while tfie sciences, tiien so called, 
had remained stationary ; and his own strong common 
sense showed him that the principle which advanced the 
arts might also advance universal science. 

Let us inquire, How does this philosophy apply to 
modern education ? 

According to the Baconian philosophy, utility and 
progress should characterize all our methods of educa- 
tion. To secure progress, we should aim at what is prac- 
ticable and useful. Until within the last twenty years, 
the platonic philosophy infested all our systems of edu- 
cation. The inductive philosophy, which created new 
sciences, and infused fresh vitality into the old one8,left 
our educational systems as it found them,all but worth- 
less as regards the education of the people of a great 
commercial, scientific, manufacturing, and engineering 
nation. In our middle and higher class schools, the lan- 
guages of the ancients, the logic of the ancients, and the 



THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. 2i 

geometry of the ancients formed tlie great subjects of 
school; instruction ; whilst practical science, general 
knowledge, and nearly all those subjects which bear 
directly upon the interests of man as an active and think- 
ing agent, were virtually ignored. This system even 
failed to accomplish the contracted end which it had in 
view. It professed to exercise and strengthen the intel- 
lectual faculties ; but the only faculty which it could 
strengthen, admitting that to be possible, was memory. 
To remember, recite, and admire what the ancients had 
done, was the highest end which it proposed. It there- 
fore produced a race of slavish imitators, and not a race 
of original, vigorous, and practical thinkers. Facts, and 
the induction of facts, were deemed unworthy of their 
platonic philosophy. 

Now Bacon had taught, in his philosophy, that the 
powers of memory can do little towards the advance- 
ment of science. He ranks the achievements of memory 
with the exhibitions of the mountebank: '* The two per- 
formances are of much the same sort. The one is an 
abuse of the powers of the body; the other is an abuse 
of the powers of -the mind. Both may excite our won- 
der; but neither is entitled to our respect." Locke, the 
great metaphysician, also advocated the same view at a 
subsequent period. 

Even geometry w as considered to suffer a degradation 
whenever its abstract demonstrations were combined 
with more simple modes of exposition, or whenever it 
was applied to the business of life, — its essential and 
eternal truths were vitiated by the association. This 
opinion obtains very largely amongst a certain class of 
educators, even at the present day. "Take care; do 
not simplify your geometry; do not attempt to give 
your children any common-sense definitions of geo- 
metrical truths, otherwise you will vitiate the eternal, 
immutable truths of geometry. You must begin with 
Euclid, and you must end with Euclid." Men that 
speak loudly in praise of Bacon as the father of modern 
philosophy, will never tell you about this, — that 
he exposed the systems of education which they are 



26 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

now employing in the education of the people of this 
country. 

Now Bacon taught that geometry, as well as all the 
other branches of mathematics, was valuable as a branch 
of education only so far as it contributed to supply the 
wants of society ; and that such practical applications, 
so far from detracting from the discipline which it gave 
the mind, in reality made that discipline more forcible 
and complete. He viewed mathematics as an instrument 
for the extension of art and science, and considered that 
it should be studied, not as an end, but as a means to an 
end, without which the study would be, in a great meas- 
ure, fruitless. 

In short, like the platonic philosophy, the aim of the 
education of these schools was to raise man above the 
influence of vulgar wants. 

The principle of utility and progress would lead us to 
conclude that the education of the boy should fit and 
prepare him for discharging the duties of the man. But 
what did the collegiate-trained, aristocratic teacher care 
for the duties and interests of the carpenter, the wheel- 
wright, the engine-builder, or the scientific experiment- 
alist ? Their pursuits were altogether foreign to his 
education and association; of their habits of thought he 
knew nothing, and cared as little ; between him and 
them there was an impassable gulf; he lived in a quies- 
cent world of abstractions; they lived in a world of 
action and progress. How could the one become the 
educator of the other ? 

These remarks, made in reference to the middle and 
higher class schools, will apply, with only a slight mod- 
ification, to the primary schools of the corresponding 
period. 

Interest quickens man's perceptions and invigorates 
his intellectual powers. The artisan works out his results 
chiefly by inductive processes of reasoning, because he 
finds the highest degree of certainty, and a sufticieni 
degree of exactness in the method, and performs his 
inductions well and carefully, for his interest depends 
Hpon his deductions. Hence it was, that whilst phi- 



THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. 27 

lofeophy remained stationary, the arts went on pro* 
gressing. Bacon observed this, and therefore recom- 
mended the inductive process for the advancement of 
philosophy. What the artisans had performed success- 
fully on a limited scale, he proposed to employ in the 
advancement of universal science. Thus Bacon's phi- 
losophy was borrowed from the workshop; and what he did 
for science, we may now do for education; we must bor- 
row from the workshop by adopting in our schools, more 
or less, those processes of reasoning, habits of thought, 
and peculiar modes of self -instruction, employed by our 
practical men. 

If the great intellect of Bacon could condescend to 
borrow from the workshop, why should we be ashamed 
of borrowing from the same source ? But yet so it is. 
Talk to some of our professional men — it may be our 
lawers, or our clergymen — about borrowing ideas, and 
taking hints from the working man, they would smile at 
you with contempt, and say, " Can men who have had a 
college education obtain any information from persons 
of the lowly class, whose education has been altogether 
neglected?" Ay, neglected, to be sure; neglected so 
far as the schools in which these men had been placed 
in their childhood are considered; but those workmen^ 
when they left the schools, had to commence a course 
of self-education; and that self-education has had its 
results; that self-education makes the English workman 
what he is, — the pride of his country, the most skilful 
artisan of the world. 

Notwithstanding all that has been done for primary 
education within the last twenty years, we are still very 
far from having realized the Baconian condition of 
utility and progress. 

We are still under the dominion of abstract theories 
of education consecrated by great names,and sanctioned 
and patronized by great societies. That philosophy is 
false, and not less hateful than it is false, which arrests 
the progress of knowledge by extinguishing the spirit of 
inquiry and destroying freedom of thought and action. 
The platonic philosophy enslaved the human mind for 



28 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

two thousand years, and during that long period it pro- 
duced no fruit, because it superseded inductive pro- 
<?esses of inquiry by laying down theoretic dogmas and 
sublime philosophic fictions. Bacon emancipated the 
human mind from this degrading and enfeebling slavery. 
He showed mankind that the inductive method would 
lead them to new truths, far exceeding in brilliancy and 
utility anything which the ancient gods of philosophy, 
whom the people had blindly worshiped, had ever dis- 
covered. It is not necessary to say how wonderfully 
this prediction has been fulfilled. Thus our platonic 
theories of education must one day fall before the induc- 
tive method of inquiry. 

In moral questions there is, perhaps, no such thing as 
absolute certainty. A question in education cannot be 
solved in the same manner as a problem in geometry. 
Moral evidence has little in common with mathematical 
evidence; and the inductive method of research is in 
many respects widely different from the anatytic method, 
by which we demonstrate abstract truths. In the induc- 
tive sciences,such as education, we seem only to approx- 
imate to truth. We can hardly ever say that we have 
actually arrived at the absolute truth; but we approach 
nearer and nearer to it, according as we extend our 
inductive processes. The truth lies in the asymptote of 
a curve, towards which we are always approaching, but 
which we may never absolutely reach. At the same 
time our approximations have alw^ays the stamp of util- 
ity,for they are practically true; that is, they are true as 
far as the actual wants of society are concerned. The 
inductive method never puts a stop to further inquiry; 
it is itself progressive, and recognizes the principle of 
progress. It gives no divine revelation; on the contrary, 
it appeals to reason, and challenges further inquiry. 
Watt concluded, from his experiments, that the sum of 
the latent and sensible heat of steam was a constant 
quantity: this, although not found by subsequent exper- 
imentalists to be strictly true, was nevertheless a grand 
approximation to truth, which conducted him to those 
magnificent inventions which have changed the des- 



A PROVINCIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 2^ 

ticies of the world. The same sj^irit should be adopted 
in relation to the development of our methods of 
education. 

The inductive method has already done something for 
the progress of education, but its importance is not yet 
sufficiently acknowledged or understood. We are still 
the slaves of conventional forms and prescriptive theo- 
ries; we are still too much overawed and cowed into ser- 
vility by high-sounding names, and by the dogmas of 
self-serving professions and ambitious societies. The pro- 
gress which we have made should be taken as the guaran- 
tee of further advancement. The positions we have gained 
must form the base of operations for still greater achieve- 
ments. 

When I was a boy, geography was taught by rote; now 
it is taught much more efficiently by means of maps. 
Arithmetic was imperfectly taught by rules ; now it is 
admirably taught by an exposition of principles ; but 
there are still many important branches of knowledge 
very imperfectly taught by the rule and rote system. 
We must not abandon the hope of future progress. Witli 
respect to iitility, there is much which remains to be ac- 
complished. We want a greater enlargement of the 
basis of intellectual and moral development, suited to the 
advanced state of our arts and sciences. The rich stores 
of scientific knowledge, which we now possess, should 
be more thoroughly and systematically taught in our 
schools, not only as means of intellectual and moral cul- 
ture, but also on account of their immediate bearing on 
the business of life. 

Let us enter an elementary school in one of our manu- 
facturing cities. The master still teaches on the old 
individual system. There is no blackboard, or any 
kind of experimental apparatus. There are maps, it is 
true, hanging on the walls, but they seem to have been 
little used, for they are covered with dust. The school 
is not noisy, but there is the constant chatter and titter 
of idleness and frolic. There is discipline of a certain 
kind, but it is not moral discipline. The boys are sons 
of mechanics and factory laborers, and, like their 



30 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOI^. 

parents, they will have to enter the workshop or the fac- 
tory. They are sharp, intelligent-looking boys, and seem 
capable of learning anything which the schoolmaster 
might attempt to teach them, or of taking advantage of 
his occasional fits of listlessness and abstraction; but 
they are idle, and feel no interest in their tasks. The 
dull routine of reading, writing, and arithmetic, with 
catechisms and formularies, goes on day after day. The 
school is characterized neither by utility nor by progress. 
The master sits at his desk, apparently in a deep *' brown 
study ;" let us look over his shoulder and see what he 
is doing. He is studying the ancient geometry, and on 
one side of his desk are some books of the ancient clas- 
sical authors. He is a scholar and a mathematician. 
What a misdirection of intellect ! What fruit has his 
knowledge yielded him ? or what advantage has it been 
to the pupils of his school ? It has been a negation; or 
rather, it has been worse than a negation. These boys 
want to be taught in matters relating to the employments 
which they will soon have to follow. The master is idle, 
as a teacher, because the boys will not attend to his 
abstract prelections ; and the boys are idle because the 
master will not instruct them in those things which form 
the subjects of their every-day associations. The school- 
house is surrounded by engines, by factories, by chemical 
works, and by workshops of all sorts. What a mine of 
intellectual wealth lies at his very door available for 
school instruction ! How useful he might become ! He 
might fill these hives of industry with a far more in- 
telligent and skilful class of operatives, and thereby not 
only advance the interests of the operatives themselves, 
but contribate to the productive resources of his country. 
Hark ! the steam whistle ! He starts as a man aroused 
from his slumber. Does that sound awaken some useful 
trains of association ? The steam-engine, with its huge 
train of cars, passengers, and merchandise, starts on its 
winged course. It goes onward and onward, and woe be- 
tide the thing that obstructs its progress. It rolls from 
hamlet to hamlet, and from city to city, carrying with it 
the products of industry and intelligence. Type of the 



PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 31 

age of progress ! has the shrill blast of thy whistle re- 
minded the schoolmaster that utility and progress are 
realities demanding his consideration, and claiming the 
tribute of his powers ? Poor dreamer ! have you really 
returned to your problems ? Are you content to remain 
stationary, whilst everything around you reminds you 
that utility and progress are the motive principles of the 
age ; and that beings such as you, with all your classical 
lore, must be swept away as the surf of the ocean before 
the advancina: tide of civilization ? 



Philosophy of Method. 

Having arrived at an educational epoch in which the 
importance of teaching,as well as of the.method of teach- 
ing, is duly recognized, it becomes a matter of inquiry, 
How are we to distinguish the true from the false ? 
Amid such an accumulation of facts, methods, and sys- 
tems, what are the evils arising out of the abuse of meth- 
od, and by what principles of philosophy are our sys- 
tems to be tested and improved ? In short, what are the 
laws which govern the philosophy of method ? 

Education, like all other sciences, must be based upon 
a careful induction of facts. All true ideas of method 
must be derived from a careful study of the nature of 
the human faculties, as regards the mode as well as the 
order of their development. It is, therefore, the first 
business of the science of method to discover the 
laws and conditions which regulate the development of 
the mind, — to follow Nature wheresoever she may lead 
us, and not to lay down preconceived rules for her 
guidance. Our attempts to teach by abstract notions, 
formed independently of a careful study of facts, are as 
ridiculous as the conduct of the savage who sowed gun- 
powder, instead of trying to make it. It is true, that in 
the progress of all science there must be an initiative 
idea, but then this idea must be tested and perfected by 
an appeal to experience and experiment. When the 
ancient astronomers affirmed that the orbits of the 



32 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 

planets were circular, because the circle was the most 
perfect iigure,they committed a great error in philosophy, 
for the true proof of their initiative conception should 
have been sought for in nature, and not in any abstract 
principle. So, in like manner, all our theories, or gen- 
eral principles of teaching should be tested by an appeal 
to facts of observation and experiment. The relative 
efficiency of different systems should be determined, 
by placing them under the same circumstances and rela- 
tions, and then, by a careful induction of facts, we should 
establish some general principles of method. The cer- 
tainty of our conclusions, in such cases, depends upon 
two circumstances ; — first, on the facilities which we 
have for tracing eifects to their causes, and conversely 
for following causes to their legitimate effects, — second, 
on the faith which we hasre in the constancy and unifor- 
mity with which the same relations and conditions occur. 
Thus, for example, the phenomena of the material world 
are always open to observation and experiment ; and, ^t 
the same time, the perfect uniformity with which they 
take place, leads us to speak with confidence of the fu- 
ture, from what has taken place in the past. A chemist, 
after having determined the particular action of one sub- 
stance upon another, from his instinctive belief in the 
permanence of the laws of nature, at once de^.ides that 
the same action will always take place under the same 
circumstances ; but experience alone must lead, him to 
find out what are the essential circumstances and rela- 
tions for producing the particular action, and what are 
merely casual or accidental ; in short, experience, or 
repeated experiment, must lead him to discover the true 
relation of uniform sequence — the relation of cause and 
effect. 

Let us penetrate a little further into the recesses of 
this subject. Facts are the point of departure of all 
philosophy; these become matters of consciousness; ob- 
servation there lays hold of them before committing them 
to induction, which forces them to yield up the prin- 
ciples which they contain. The method, of observation 
and induction was first given by Bacon, but it has be- 



PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 33 

come the spirit of the age, — tlie spirit of the world of 
civilization and development. It constitutes the unity of 
an age characterized by the most striking diversities and 
antagonisms. Philosophy has its origin in observation 
and experience only; to be so limited is to be limited to 
human nature; but what else could we have, or would 
we have ? The experimental philosophy of Bacon 
(characterized by observation, experience, and experi- 
ment), is sufficient for the attainment of all knowledge, 
and for the completion of every science. It has passed 
sentence on the ancient systems of philosophy, — it has 
destroyed all that was merely hypothetical, but it has 
perpetuated all that was based on observation. A single 
fact not unfrequently consecrates a mass of errors, and 
sometimes gives to the wildest theories a certain amount 
of credit among men. Everything true and permanent 
in the systems of philosoph}^, scattered throughout the 
course of time, is the fruit of observation; and every- 
thing permanently useful in society is the result of the 
experimental method. To arrive at a permanent system 
we must not only observe, but we must observe every- 
thing faithfully, truly, and completely,without prejudice 
and partiality. We must use only the method of obser- 
vation, but we must apply it to all facts, wherever they 
exist; on its impartiality depends its accuracy, and to be 
impartial it must be universal. Method, as applied to 
education, is a mixed inquiry, comprehending questions 
of physics as well as metaphysics ; and a comprehensive 
method of observation is necessary to establish the de- 
siderated alliance between the two classes of phenomena, 
not by the sacrifice of the one to the other, but by the 
unity of the method employed in ascertaining the law^ 
connecting the phenomena, which, though different as 
to kind, are nevertheless coexistent and inseparable as 
to results. When observation has put us in possession 
of all the elements of our science, we then proceed with 
the work of classification, generalization, etc. 

In order to fulfil these conditions, the principles of 
method, as applied to education, must be considered sub- 
jectively, as well as objectively ; that is to say, 



34 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 

in relation to the me, as well as in relation to the 
NOT ME. The science of the me is called Psychology ; 
it gives the history of the soul as derived from con- 
sciousness and reflection ; it is, therefore, entirely oc- 
cupied with internal facts and phenomena. The ob- 
jective is our intellectual principles considered in 
relation to their external objects Here we must ob- 
serve how the minds of children develop themselves; 
and also, how the mind of man, regarded historically, 
or in connection with the progress of society, has de- 
veloped itself. 

All questions relating to methods of instruction are 
contained in the three following : — 

1. What are the characteristics of the actual^ or the 
developed intelligence ? 

2. What are ihoAV primitive characteristics ? 

3. What are the intermediate conditions, or occasions, 
connecting the actual with the primitive; or, in other 
words, how is intelligence developed? 

The first two questions are almost exclusively sub- 
jective; the last is objective as well as subjective. 

Here we start with the actual state of the faculties, 
and arrive at their primitive state by following the in- 
termediate links connecting the one with the other. To 
determine the actual, is the easiest problem, and its solu- 
tion is the first step towards the solution of the others. 
This is the experimental method: we first observe and 
register all the principles or laws which actually govern 
the action and development of the faculties; — we admit 
only those facts and principles which really exist, but 
of those we reject none; — we ask not why they exist, 
or for what they exist; it is enough that they do exist, 
and what is in nature must form an element of science; 
— nor are we in haste to classify the results, in order to 
bring out some favorite theory; we are content to 
wait patiently until their registration is completed, so 
that their relations may be rendered apparent, and that 
their theory may gradually unfold itself. 

The philosophy of method, as ajjplied to teaching, 
is not less difficult than important. The diversity of 



PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 35 

views which at present obtains in relation to systems of 
teaching, is a sufficient evidence of the difficulty of the 
subject, and a sufficient testimony to the want of some 
recognized principles. 

The following are some of the difficulties peculiar to 
the inquiry : — 

1. Although the same powers and affections are found 
in every human being, yet these powers and affections 
exist in different degrees and states of development in 
different individuals. Hence it follows, that a system of 
instruction which is adapted to one class of pupils may 
not be suitable to another. 

2. Different causes may, and no doubt often do, pro- 
duce the same or similar effects. This arises from the 
constitution of the mind itself, for we know that it ad- 
raits of various modes of development. 

3. Teachers differ much in their capabilities and 
acquirements; and they rarely restrict themselves to the 
use of any special system of instruction. 

However, an earnest study of the principles of method 
will enable us to surmount these obstacles. In con- 
ducting our inquiries, the following summary of rules 
and principles, having a special bearing on the subject, 
should be duly considered. 

Importance of Definitions. 

No science can make a satisfactory progress unless its 
technical terms are clearly and precisely defined. This 
is especially true in relation to the science of education. 
At present we have scarcely any recognized terms in 
education; we dignify by the name of a system or 
method some trifling modification of a general principle, 
and we make use of terms without sufficiently limiting 
their amount of meaning. Thus we speak of "the ellip- 
tical method," as if it contained some peculiar principle 
which was not involved in "the interrogative system " 
of instruction ; some persons erroneously use the term 
" simultaneous teaching," to mean the same thing as 
" collective teaching." As a preliminary step, therefore. 



36 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

to the attainment of exact knowledge in the science of 
method, we should always define the terms which we em- 
ploy, before proceeding to the detail of facts, or the 
elucidation of principles. 

Collection of Facts. 

The first step,in the attainment of a knowledge of right 
methods of teaching, is an extensive acquisition of facts. 
In recording these facts, all the conditions and collateral 
circumstances should be carefully noted, for even circum- 
stances which appear trifling at the time, may really be 
important links in the chain of sequences. 

Educational facts may be derived from books on 
mental philosophy, from our own individual experience 
and observation, as well as from the experience and ob- 
servation of others. We are not to look to legislators 
and school managers for the discovery of these facts, nor 
even should we rely too much upon the hasty impressions 
of the visitors of schools. It is upon the labors of the 
practical teacher that we must chiefly depend; it is his 
business to watch the development of his pupils' faculties 
as they expand themselves under the various modes of 
instruction; — it is his business to collect facts, to record 
observations, and to institute experiments. 

In forming a collection of facts, the following rules 
must be observed : — 

1. All the facts should be fully ascertained or authen- 
ticated; and whilst no essential facts connected with the 
subject should be wanting, all trivial and incidental cir- 
cumstances should be omitted. 

2. The statement should contain a complete and fair 
view of ali the facts involved in the inquiry, and none of 
the facts should be in any way modified to pander to 
any preconceived theory. 

Teachers should aid each other in the collection of 
facts, and Government Inspectors should afford them 
every facility for the attainment of this object. Some 
facts transmitted to us may appear to be contrary to our 
individual experience; let us beware how we reject 



rHILOSOniY OF METHOD. 37 

tbem ! Our prejudices may be standing in the way of 
the advancement of the truth. We should test the facts 
by some new experiment, or we may find some hitherto 
neglected series of facts in our own experience which 
may lead us to a right decision. Hitherto, the facts 
accumulated by teachers have been almost ignored. An 
inspector enters a school with a stern determination of 
observing everything for himself, without calling in the 
aid of the teacher; after spending a few hours in that 
school, he leaves it with the belief that he has coDected 
all the facts of its last year's history. Lamentable error! 
that teacher, if worthy of his office, could have given him 
the history of the growth and development of every boy's 
mind and character, with a true account of tlie influ- 
ences which had been brought to bear upon them. We 
look to the hearty co-operation of inspectors and teachers 
for the accumulation of facts. But the inspector must 
not always appear before the teacher in the stern char- 
acter of censor and judge; he should also ap]>ear as a " 
friend and fellow- worker in the great common cause. 

In forming a collection of facts, the following sources 
of error should be carefully guarded against : — 

1. Receiving facts from persons whom we have reason 
to suspect of having some interested object to serve in 
disguising or modifying them. 

2. Receiving important facts from persons in whose 
judgment and power of observation we have not the 
fullest confidence. 

3. Receiving partial statements of facts given with 
the view of supporting some favorite system of educa- 
tion. 

4. Receiving opinions as facts. In guarding against 
this fruitful source of erroj*, it is above all things neces- 
sary that we should 

Distinguish heUveen Facts and Opinions. 

The confounding of facts and opinions should be care- 
fully guarded against; for we are all too apt to mix up 
our own impressions and favorite theories with the 



38 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

detail of facts, and hence it is often very difficult for us to 
separate the one from the other. When a teacher states 
that he has found a certain system of instruction produce 
the most satisfactory results, he does not restrict himself 
to a simple statement of facts, for he gives his opinion of 
the character of the results, whereas he should simply 
describe what these results were. A teacher gives us 
an opinion in place of a fact, when he states that he has 
found the elliptical system of instruction produce such 
and such results, when a full and simple statement of 
facts would be, that in the course of teaching on the col- 
lective system, he had adopted the form of elliptical 
response. The master of a school teaches, for the most 
part, after a particular system, and his pupils make pro- 
gress; this progress is ascribed to the particular system; 
now the progress of the pupils is a fact, and that the 
master taught by a particular system may also be a fact; 
but that this system of instruction was the true cause of 
the progress is an opinion; for it is giving the relation of 
cause and effect between two facts; and it is quite possi- 
ble that some hidden or unobserved influence may have 
solely, or at least mainly, contributed to the progress of 
the pupils. The omission of a fact in the chain of sequences 
is often as injurious to the cause of truth, as a misrepre- 
sentation of the case. Our statement of facts, therefore, 
should not only be free from opinions and impressions, 
but it should at the same time be full and faithful, and 
not distorted in any way with the view of supporting- 
some preconceived notions or theories. 

These are some of the rocks on which our method is 
often wrecked, — it is necessary that we should signalize 
them. 

Comparison and Classification of Fads. Relation of Cause 
and Effect. 

In order to arrive at general conclusions, our first 
step is to arrange the facts according to the points in 
which they agree; our next step is to strip our groups 
or collections of facts of all their extraneous circum- 



PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 



Stances and contincjent conditions; that is to say, by a 
comparison of our different groups of facts, we must 
separate those conditions which are essential to the result, 
or desired effect, from those which are accidental and 
non-essential. Having arived at a uniform and invari- 
able series of sequences, our next step in the process is 
to trace the relation of cause and effect. ^Yhen one 
event is invariably followed by another evenr^ we speak 
of the one being the cause, the other the effect. Now to 
the facts which are so uniformly associated, we have no 
hesitation in attributing the true relation of cause and ef- 
fect. Let us take an illustration from Dr. Wells' theory of 
dew. The facts of this case are these : moisture or dew is 
always found on the surface of plants in clear, cloudless 
nights, but little or no moisture is found on the plants in 
cloudy nights; these results take place for all plants, 
whatever may be their color, &c., and whatever may be 
their absolute temperature. Here the incidental or non- 
essential facts are the color, absolute temperature, &c., 
of the plants; the essential facts are, that dew is formed 
on clear nights; and that no dew is formed on cloudy 
nights; hence the cloudless sky is an essential condition 
for the formation of dew. 

In education, the tracing of the relation of cause and 
effect, among a succession of events, is always a matter 
of difficulty and delicacy, and is often attended with con- 
siderable liabilities to error. But the difficulty of the 
task should not deter us from the undertaking. The 
following sources of fallacy deserve especial notice : — 

1. The cause which we assign may be merely an 
incidental circumstance, and not essentially connected, 
as a uniform sequence, with the result. 

This fallacy frequently occurs in matters of education, 
for how often do we find some trifling mode or manner 
of teaching — such as the class arrangements, &c.— dig- 
nified by the name of a system, which is said to work 
out such and such results! 

2. The events, which we regard as cause and effect, 
may be closely connected, but not in the relation of 



40 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

cause and effect. The true cause may be hidden or 
overlooked, in our haste or in our fondness for some 
favorite theory. 

For example, it is a common thing to hear the advo- 
cates of the individual system of instruction appeal to 
the fact, that good scholars were formed under that 
system; wjjijle the truth is, tlie so-called good scholars 
were made, for the most part, independently of the char- 
acteristic features of that system, viz, by home instruc- 
tion, by the time of training, and by the extensive use 
of class-books. 

It remains yet to be determined w^hat conditions are 
essential, and what are only accidental, in most of our 
present system of education. It is to be hoped that 
some distinguished person amongst Her Majesty's In- 
spectors, who are in possession of a vast number of facts, 
will confer this boon on society. " 

General Principles. 

Having traced among our groups of facts the relation 
of uniform sequence, the next step in our process is to 
bring a number of them together, and to discover in them 
some common fact, or element, or general principle. This 
common element, or geneial principle, becomes a distinct 
subject of contemplation, and it is taken as characteristic 
of a whole class. In forming this generalization two 
things are especially to be observed : 1st, the principle 
should be a real fact; 2nd, it should be true for all the 
cases without exception. 

Let us illustrate the two processes of classification and 
generalization. 

We take a number of bodies differing in their externa 1 
form and color; one is an iron ore, another a steel bar, 
another has the shape of a horse-shoe, but they all agree 
in attracting iron, and they also agree in having iron in 
their composition, — we classify these boilies, and call 
them magnets; color, form, <fec.,are accidental properties 
of the class, and composition and the fact of attracting 
iron are the essential qualities of the class. But we 



PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 41 

tiow discover, that if any one of these straight or oblong 
magnets be freely suspended, one extremity will be al- 
ways directed towards the north, and the other extremity 
towards the south; here Ave discover a common or 
general principle belonging to the whole class — viz., 
polarity; this is a process oi ^generalization. 

The relations of things form the materials of method; 
and the general principle connecting these relations con- 
stitutes the leading element of method as applied to 
those particular things. 

Having brought together a number of different systems 
of instruction which are always attended with a common 
result, we must endeavor to discover some principle 
which is common to them all, — this common principle 
will give us the idea of a general method of instruction, 
which will be operative amid a certain variety of inci- 
dental conditions. 

As a general principle is nothing more than a con- 
venient form of expressing a general fact, its legitimate 
application is limited to the particular cases from which 
it has been deduced. Hence the error, into which many 
teachers fall, of pushing certain systems beyond their 
legitimate sphere of application, 

A general principle, according to the strict acceptation 
in which we have hitherto taken it, is simply a general 
fact, but it sometimes assumes the form of a theory or 
an hypothesis. In an hypothesis, a thing or principle 
is supposed to exist; but, like a strict general principle, 
it should adequately explain all the facts which belong 
to the subject-matter. General facts simply give the 
relation of law without making any assumptions; hypo- 
theses express the relation of ascertained facts by the 
supposed operation of a thing or principle, which may 
or may not exist; hypotheses, in most cases, only serve 
the jnirpose of conveniently grouping together an ex- 
tensive series of facts and phenomena. Thus, for ex- 
ample, that the planetary bodies attract one another with 
forces which are directly as their masses, and inversely 
as the squares of their distances, is a general fact; for 
the force really exists, and really acts by the law which 



42 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

is assigned to it. In Franklin's electrical theory, electric- 
ity is supposed to be a subtle fluid, which may exist in 
excess or in deficiency in bodies, thus giving rise to the 
two kinds of electricity, which, according to this theory, 
are called positive electricity and negative electricity. 
The hypothesis, in this case, serves the purpose of con- 
necting together a large number of facts. Now that 
there are tAvo kinds of electricity, possessing certain 
distinctive properties, is a s^eneral fact, but that these 
properties belong to a single fluid is a conjecture — an 
hypothesis — which is more or less useful to us according 
as it more or less completely explains the observed phe- 
nomena. 

General facts, as well as theories, are sometimes sug- 
gestive, that is to say, they sometimes lead us to suspect 
the existence of some new fact or principle; in such 
cases, however, it is the province of observation and 
experiment to confirm or overthrow the truth of the 
conjecture. 

Educational theories should be looked upon with 
distrust, and if acted upon at all it should be with 
extreme caution. They should be regarded in no other 
light than as conv^enient modes of connecting a series of 
facts, or as suggestive of some course of experimental 
inquiry. For example, a teacher would run into a mis- 
chievous error if he were to act upon the phrenological 
hypothesis, that the faculties and affections of our intel- 
lectual and moral nature respectively act through and 
by particular portions or organs of the brain, and that, 
other things being the same, the development of any 
particular faculty or function is in proportion to the 
magnitude of that particular organ, or region of the brain, 
through which the faculty or function is supposed to act. 
To those teachers who seem disposed to put faith in this 
imperfect theory, we should say : — Why act upon any 
theory, when you can ascertain, with the greatest pre- 
cision, the true character and capabilities of your pupils 
by actual observation ? 

There are two extreme views, in relation to general 
methods of instruction, which are equally unphilosophical. 



IHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 43 

and which should be equally avoided. The one is au 
implicit confidence in method; the other is an utter scep- 
ticism as regards the utility of any method whatever. 

Evils of Implicit Confidence in Method. 

No system of teaching can be efficient unless the 
master possess all those qualiti'^s which the system itself 
presupposes. If a teacher is wanting in any of those 
essential qualities, it would probably be better for him 
to modify the system to suit the circuriistances. More- 
over, the state and condition of the pupils may not cor- 
respond to that which the system presupposes. The blind, 
unreasoning attachment of teachers to systems has often 
brought ridicule upon themselves and discredit upon the 
systems which they professed to follow. Failures of this 
kind have, no doubt, often led to the unphiiosophical 
opinion " that each individual ought to have either his 
own system or no system at all." * The teacher should, 
in the fullest sense, be the master and not the slave of 
the system by which he teaches. The modes in which 
the faculties of children develop themselves are sufH- 
ciently various to admit of slight modifications in the 
systems of instruction, in order to suit the capabilities of 
the master. We can hardly say of any existing system, 
that it is the only efficient one; and as more or less im- 
perfection is to be found in every existing system of 
education, so it is equally true, that more or less truth 
may be found in all of them. Until masters are thor- 
oughly educated for their work, we must hold that the 
system should be made for the man, and not the man 
for the system. 

As children love change and novelty, a good teacher 
will vary his subjects of instruction as well as his 
methods of instruction accordingly; his judgment must 
be exercised in selecting those methods which are most 
suited to the existing conditions of his school. 



Ouaiterly Journal of Education, No. IX. 



44 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

No intelligent teacher would ever attempt to cany 
out to the strict letter any of our existing rules and 
systems. The following may be taken as a well-estab- 
lished rule in teaching children some of the simplest 
elements of knowledge: " Begin from the beginning of 
the subject, an.l never take a second step till you are 
sure tbat the first is perfectly acquired." Now, this 
rule, though true in its spirit and intention, is very far 
from being strictly true as applied to some subjects. In 
teaching the alphabet, for example, who would ever 
think of making a child perfedli/ learn one letter before 
it is taken to another; or, in teaching arithmetic, of 
making the child perfectly/ learn the rule of addition be- 
fore it is taught anything of subtraction ? 

It will be instructive to consider, more in detail, some 
of the evils resulting from a slavish attachment to 
systems. 

I. Evils of attaching undue itnportance to the non- 
essential features of a system. 

II. Evils arising from not giving due attention to the 
limits of certain modes of instruction. 

III. Evils ansing from the neglect of auxiliary aids. 
lY.' No system can be efficient wathout intelligence 

and industry on the part of the master, and without he 
is religiously imbued with a high sense of the dignity 
and importance of his wOrk. 

I. One teacher cannot give Bible lessons without a 
gallery, — another cannot teach arithmetic without the 
Pestalozzian boards, — another defers the teaching of 
drawing until his committee can afford to purchase 
Messrs. Parker and Co.'s models,— and so on. To such 
teachers we would say, beware of an undue attachment 
to the mere mechanical forms of individual systems. 
Imbue your minds with the spirit of these systems, and, 
above all, study the philosophy of their method. If you 
want a plant to grow, you water the root, not the leaves 
and branches; so, in like manner, the teacher should go 
to the root — the fundamental principles of education. 

II. Some modes of instruction, very good as regards 



PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. , 45 

their legitimate sphere of application, may become use- 
less, if not ridiculous, when pushed beyond their proper 
limits. It is desirable that these limits should be duly 
ascertained and defined, by a strict induction of facts. 
On the other hand, a method of instruction should not 
be despised because it is not of universal application. 
Because the writing system of Mulhauser, for example, 
should not be found efficient in making finished writers, 
is no reason why it should not be one of the most eligi- 
ble modes for teaching the first elements of form to 
children. In this case, the business of the philosophical 
inquirer is to determine the extent to which the system 
should be carried. 

Again, a mode of instruction may be subsidiary to 
some more general method, with which it is necessarily 
associated, and to which it may give a higher efficiency. 
In this case we should determine the relative importance 
of the subordinate method, and the most favorable 
conditions for its application. On the other hand, the 
modes of instruction which aie employed together, 
should be in harmony with each other, and also in keep- 
ing with the other recognized principles of method. 

The methods of instruction adapted to the young, 
may not always be best calculated for the instruction of 
adults. In this case we should determine the period at 
which this change of method should be made. An able 
teacher, who had been successful in teaching arithmetic 
to boys by the Pestalozzian boards, attempted to teach 
adults on the same plan; but he failed, and thereby 
brought himself and his system into unmerited con- 
tempt. 

III. The teacher should watchfully guard against any 
undue confidence, not only in his own teaching powers, 
but also in the system by which he teaches. He should 
be ever ready to avail himself of all the means within 
his reach, for giving increased efficiency to his system. 
Without, for example, in the least undervaluing his sys- 
tem of collective teaching, he should not overlook the 
aid which he may occasionally receive from individual 
instruction; nor should he despise tJie use of Text Booh, 



46 . PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

especially when associated with home instruction. The appar- 
ent discrepaDcies in the results of some of our existing 
systems are doubtless, to a great extent, due to the 
want of a proper appreciation of certain subsidiary aids 
to class instruction. 

IV. Much remains to be eifected by the individual 
merits of the teacher. Methods of teaching are little 
better than dead letters in the hands of stupid and indo- 
lent pedagogues, but they become living, efficient princi- 
ples in the minds of thinking and active teachers. Sys- 
tems should be tested by the teacher and modified by 
him, if found necessary, to suit the various tastes, habits, 
and future pursuits of the children placed under his care. 
He must become a moral philosopher, always reflecting 
and experimenting upon matters of education. The 
school-room is his laboratory and his studio; the little 
boys by whom he is surrounded are the subjects of his 
reflections and experiments, and the great end is their 
intellectual and moral amelioration. The teacher is a 
much more elevated being than the mere mechanic. The 
results of machinery are splendid and overpowering; 
but then all that is truly great in these results is due to 
the creative mind that gave the method, — the law, 
physical or mathematical, or perhaps both physical and 
mathematical, by which these results are produced. 
The machine makers, according to our systems in the 
division of labor, are little better than machines making 
machines; one forges a bolt, another files it, and an- 
other puts it in its place; one casts a wheel, another 
turns it on the lathe, and another superintends the ma- 
chine that cuts teeth upon its rim; thus each man toils 
from morning till night, and the labor of one day is the 
type of the labor of that which succeeds. It is not so 
with the teacher; creative minds cannot so cut out and 
divide the labor of instruction, or so lay out the princi- 
ples and methods of teaching, as to supersede the exer- 
cise of his reasoning and reflective powers. His work 
is professional, — it is akin to the medical man's. The 
teacher is no machine, — his mind is above all rules 
and superior to all authority in relation to his work. 



PHILOSOPHY or METHOD. 47 

Boards of education and visiting committees should not 
interfere too much with the immediate duties and pecu- 
liar functions of the schoolmaster. Elevate his social, 
intellectual, and moral condition, but do not legislate 
for him with respect to methods of instruction. 

In order that a teacher should be thoroughly devoted 
to his work, he should be duly sensible of its importance ; 
— he should believe, that the future character of a 
country depends upon the education of its children; — 
he should be fully aware, that, in the soft and virgin 
soil of their souls, he may j^lant the shoots of poison or 
sow the seeds of sweet-scented flowers or of life-giving 
fruit ; — he should realize the momentous thought, that 
the little prattling, thoughtless children by whom he is 
surrounded, are to become the men of the approaching 
age. As a necessary consequence of all this, he should 
carefully look to the predilections of children; — that 
child who is amusing himself with drawing triangles and 
circles may, under proper training, hereafter become 
another Pascal; — that little dirty urchin who is 
plucking flowers by the wayside, may become the poet 
or the orator of his age ; — that thoughtful, feeble body 
who is watching the effect of the steam, as it blows and 
puffs from the tea-kettle, may become another Watt, des- 
tined to multiply the resources of our national wealth 
and power; — that ruthless little savage, who is leading- 
mimic battles of the snow storm, may become (unless 
his evil tendencies are counteracted by education) an- 
other Napoleon, who may seize with a giant grasp the 
iron thunderbolt of death, and on the wreck of a people's 
hopes and happiness build himself up a terrible monu- 
ent of guilt and greatness. 

The work of the soul-devoted teacher should not 
cease with the school hours ; — the predilections and 
spontaneous ebullitions of feeling in children, in their 
moments of leisure and play, should be carefully watched 
by him, in order that he may encourage and aid the 
development of what may be good or useful, and be able 
to suppress, or direct into a legitimate channel, what may 
be evil or dangerous. 



48 PHlLOSOrHY OF EDUCATION. 

Under a new and better order of things, an efficient, 
soul-devoted teacher will become one of the great 
thinkers of his age. His leisure hours will be given to 
the study of the philosophy of mind and the principles 
of method, and his daily labor will consist in the practice 
of that philosophy and those principles. Child of hope! 
despair not in the discharge of your arduous duties, and 
doubt not but that public opinion will award to you that 
social position to which your talents and usefulness en- 
title you; — toil on in all faith and humility ! the hour 
of your emancipation is not distant, — injustice is always 
followed by a reaction, — and the dark, cheerless period 
of debasement and uncalled-for self-sacrifice will be fol- 
lowed by light and gladness, when under the blessing of 
God you shall possess the means as well as the capabili- 
ties for adding to our knowledge of the science of meth- 
od as applied to education. 

Experiments required to test Systems of Education. 

A system of instruction may be formed with a due re- 
gard to the abstract nature of the being to be educated, 
but it may not be practicable under the conditions and 
circumstances of a given school, w^here perhaps large 
masses of children have to be taught under the super- 
vision of one master, with limited material aids; hence 
it is necessary that all systems should be brought to the 
test of experiment. 

Whilst sound principles of education gain new force 
by every fresh confirmation of their truth, false theo- 
ries lose some portion of their hold on the prejudices 
of men by every new exposure of their fallacy. Some 
thoroughly digested systems of experiment are yet 
desiderated in education. The form and object of 
experiments are directly under our control, and in this 
respect the results of experiment are more valuable 
than facts derived from observation and ordinary expe- 
rience. For this purpose we should like to see some 
experimental school established under our Government 
Inspectors, where, for example, any two rival systems of 



PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 49 

instruction might be placed exactly under the same cir- 
cumstances with the view of determining their relative 
efficiency. People generally are slow in adopting what 
ai-e called improved methods; their prejudices are always 
in favor of what is old and English, and nothing but an 
fixperimentum cruets will alter their predilections. Manjr 
old systems are associated with certain extraneous cir- 
cumstances which consecrate their errors and give them 
an apparent truth. Thus, for example, the individual 
system of teaching, which at present obtains in most of 
our middle class schools, is so interwoven with the systent 
of home instruction that we cannot see all the evils of 
this system so fully as we should do if it were standing 
on its own merits. It should be stripped of this favor- 
able association in order to exhibit it in its true aspect. 
And it may be here worthy of observation, that it would 
be well for us to ascertain, with some degree of exactness,, 
how far this home instruction should be employed im 
connection with the system of collective teaching, which, 
is at present in operation in our schools for the poor. 

The importance of experimental facts may be illustrat- 
ed by the history of physical science. Before the time 
of Galileo it was believed that water rose in the common 
pump from nature's horror of a vacuum. An experimen- 
tal fact was wanting to expose the fallacy of this hypo-^ 
thesis; that fact was supplied to Galileo by the workmen 
of Tuscany when they found that water would not rise 
in the barrel of a pump higher than 34 feet. In 
like manner, we may find that some fortunate experi- 
ment or fact of observation, may lead to a reversion of 
some of our existing dogmas in education. In conducting 
experiments, it may be useful to observe, the truth of a 
great general system of education may be confirmed in 
two ways, viz., by altering the conditions under which it 
is made to act, or by altering the intensity of the element 
which constitutes its distinguishing feature. When the 
pupil of Galileo substituted mercury for water, to test 
the presence of atmospheric pressure, he rightly consid- 
ered, that if there was a constantly acting law of pres- 
sure, the column of the one fluid would be to that of the 



50 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

other in the inverse ratio of their densities; it is well 
known that the result of the experiment confirmed the 
truth of the theory. Not satisfied with this confirmation, 
Pascal proposed to try the experimentum cruets by vary- 
ing the intensity of the operating principle, and he there- 
fore had tlie Torricellian experiment performed upon 
the top of a mountain, w^here the atmospheric column 
was diminished; the result of this experiment, it is 
scarcely necessary to say, fully established the great 
principle of atmospheric pressure. In like manner, it 
may not be too presumptuous to suppose, the truth of 
many of our general theories and systems of instruction 
may be confirmed or overthrown. 

To EsUtnate the Results of Method. 

Without undervaluing the communication of positive 
knowledge in the education of children, we should in 
general attach the greatest importance to that system 
which tends most to develop and improve their intellec- 
tual and moral powers. But it is possible that, in our 
regard for this darling idea, we may overlook the fact 
that the study of those subjects which are the most use- 
ful is generally the most instructive. The school of the 
jDOor shou-ld never become an intellectual gymnasium, 
Avhere the future destinies of the children are disregarded. 
Children, in the course of nature, become men and 
women, and their pursuits and studies in school should 
prepare them for playing their parts in the great world 
in which they must move and act. In the education of 
a young gentleman, it matters little whether his muscles 
are strengthened by digging in the garden,or by exercises 
with the parallel bars in the play ground; but with the 
child of poverty it is very different, — his lot is labor, 
and labor should form a part of his school training; to 
an Eton scholar, it may be of little consequence whether 
he learns land-surveying, or whether his tutors teach 
him to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics or any other 
hieroglyphics, provided his intellectual powers are exer- 
cised and developed; but with the son of the mechanic 



PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 51 

it is different, — his period of school training being 
limited, he has no time to spare for learning things which 
have only a remote bearing on his future employment; 
to him, the school-room should be, in a certain sense, the 
vestibule of the workshop. In estimating, therefore, the 
results of systems in primary schools, a due regard 
should be paid to this two-fold aspect of education. 

In the education of adults the matter is somewhat 
different, for in this case the chief end, if not the sole 
end, of class instruction should, obviously, be the 
communication of that knowledge which shall be imme- 
diately and directly beneficial to them in their respective 
avocations. 

The object of education should be to develop all the 
faculties of our nature — physical, intellectual, and 
moral; and that, too, in harmony with one another. A 
system sometimes tends only to develop one set of facul- 
ties to the neglecting of all the others. When this is 
the case, the teacher should adopt some system which 
shall be. supplemental to the other, so that the two 
systems, acting in conjunction, shall exercise all the 
faculties of the pupils. The same observations apply to 
the subject of study. For example, the study of arith- 
metic, or geometry, exercises the mind in only one kind 
of evidence — mathematical evidence; therefore, in this 
case, the teacher would do well to give, side by side 
with arithmetic, some easy lessons on physical science, 
where the mind of the pupil is exercised in moral 
evidence. 



52 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



CHAP. HI. 



TO ASCERTAIN THE NATURE OF THE BEING TO BE EDUCATED.— GENERAL 
FACTS AND PRINCIPLES. — PRIMITIVE INTELLIGENCE THE BASIS OF DEVEL- 
OPMENT. — CLASSIFICATION OF THE FACULTIES. — ESSENTIAL POINTS CON- 
SIDERED IN RELATION TO METHOD. 



To Ascertain the Nature of the Being to be 
Educated. 



As a knowledge of human nature is the true basis of 
the science of education, it is essential to the discovery 
of general principles of method, that we should have a 
complete record of general facts relative to the develop- 
ment of the intellectual and moral faculties, and that it 
should be fully ascertained, by actual observations and 
experiments, what subjects and methods of instruction 
are best calculated to aid the development of these 
faculties at the different stages of their growth ; in order 
to complete the science of education, Ave require some- 
thing more than a mere knowledge of the general prin- 
ciples of mental philosophy. Such a course of inquiry 
would not only contribute to advance the science of 
education, but it would also give us a more complete 
view of the natural history of the human mind. 

It has been said that psychological analysis will lead 
us to a knowledge of the laws regulating the develop- 
ment of our faculties; but in the inquiry we may be 
very much aided by observing how humanity, or the 
mind of society, has developed itself in the different 
stages of its advancement; that is to say, how the mind 
of man has discovered truth after truth, and built up 
science upon science, in attaining our present elevated 
condition of civilization and intelligence. It is obvious 
that the mind, considered historically, that is, object- 
ively, must give us the broad features of the mind 



I1STELLECTUA.L DEVELOPMENT. 53 

considered per se, that is, subjectively. Those natural 
instincts and impulses which evince themselves in the 
individual mind, must undoubtedly exhibit themselves 
on a grand scale in the development of the race itself, 
or the mind of man acting in society. 

We give the following as amongst the most important 
general facts or laws relating to the development of the 
faculties. 



General Facts relating to the Development of 
THE Intellectual Faculties. 

1. The faculties follow a law of progressive develop- 
ment. 

2. They are cultivated by being properly exercised on 
appropriate subjects. 

3. They are weakened by being over-tasked, or by 
being exercised on inappropriate subjects. They admit 
of a wrong development. 

4. All our knowledge of the material world is derived 
through the senses. Material objects, and the various 
phenomena of the external world, are the subjects upon 
which the faculties first exercise themselves. Material 
:aids promote the activity of all the faculties. 

5. The natural force of the faculties differs in different 
individuals. 

6. The voluntary faculties, such as attention, are 
influenced by motives. Children like to do things in 
company with one another. With children, the natural 
and most healthful incentive to attention is the associa- 
tion of pleasure with instruction; nature has connected 
a refined intellectual pleasure with the healthful exercise 
of the faculties; curiosity or the desire of knowledge, 
and the love of the beautiful and the wonderful, are the 
great actuating principles of early childhood, and their 
gratification is always accompanied by pleasurable 
emotions. Unnatural modes of instruction give rise to 
harsh and vitiating modes of discipline. 

7. Habits are formed by the repetition of the same actiB. 



54 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

The habits of attention and concentration are the great 
main-springs of education. The habit of directing the 
undivided or concentrated force of the faculties to a 
given subject is never fully acquired in early life, — 
children love change and novelty. 

8. One class of faculties may repose whilst another 
class of faculties is being exercised. 

9. The faculties are most vigorous when they are 
exercised voluntarily. The principle of self-dependence 
is one of the most powerful agents of culture. Children 
have a natural craving for knowledge as well as for 
occupation. 

10. The strength of any faculty and the desire for 
exercising it, are greater according as it has been more 
or less called into activity. The sooner a faculty is 
called into healthful action, the greater, other things 
being the same, will be its strength. The cultivation of 
the reasoning faculties should not be too long delayed. 

11. The faculties, in the course of their development^ 
act and re-act upon one another. The complete develop- 
ment of any faculty depends, more or less, on the devel- 
opment of some other faculty. 

The mind is really one indivisible substance having 
different states and modes of action; these states and 
modes of action being called faculties. 

Some of the faculties are almost simultaneous in their 
action as well as in their development. 

All the faculties of the mind exist in a greater or less 
state of activity at every stage of development. 

The mind as a whole admits of cultivation at every 
stage of development. The moral faculties may be cul- 
tivated in connection with the intellectual faculties ;^ 
and so on. 

12. For the purpose of culture, the faculties may be 
divided into groups or classes. 

13. Our subjects, as well as our methods of instruction, 
may be varied or modified to suit the different classes of 
faculties. 

14. Each class of faculties has its characteristic mo- 
tives of action as well as habits of action. 



PKIMITIVE INTELLIGENCE. 56 

15. Each faculty has a primitive state corresponding 
to its spontaneous development. Primitive judgments 
form the basis of all our knowledge. 

Certain faculties have also distinct states of develop- 
ment corresponding to the subjects upon which they are 
exercised. These states have an important bearing on 
early education. 

16. All our knowledge is derived from three sources, 
yiz., Sensation^ Reflection^ and the Primitive Laiva involved 
in our mental operations. 



Pbimitive Intelligence, as Shown in Peeception 
AND Intuition, Considered as the Basis of Devel- 
opment. 

There is a pre-established harmony between external 
nature and the laws regulating the operations of the 
mind. Through sensation, or the impressions derived 
from the senses, the immaterial (the mind) comes into 
contact with the material, and springs (through its own 
inherent energies) into all the various forms of developed 
intelligence. Without sensation, the mind could not 
germinate; and without the reflex power, which the 
mind exercises over these sensations, intelligence could 
not exist; but this is not all, — the awakened intelligence 
derives fresh vitality from the primitive laws involved in 
its own operations. Hence our knowledge, the aliment 
of intellectual life, is derived from the three following 
sources: Sensation, Reflection, and Intuition, or the 
Primitive Laws involved in our mental operations. 

The infant soul contains implicitly all the faculties of 
the developed intelligence; reason is there, with all its 
essential characteristics, but it is there only in its 
intuitive form. The mind intuitively comprehends and 
feels the relations subsisting between itself and the ex- 
ternal world, without being able at once to give its 
knowledge anything like a formal or abstract expression. 
It spontaneously and unconsciously forms primitive 
judgments or inferences, recognizes the beautiful and 



56 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

participates it, and acts under the conviction of certain 
fundamental principles of belief. All the materials of 
perfect intelligence exist in these primary or primitive 
intuitions, but they have to be reduced to definite forms 
and consistent combinations. 

Nature is truly a revelation. To the human soul 
nature speaks in an intelligible language,which the brute 
cannot understand. The brute looks on nature as it 
looks on a book, — it sees lights and shades, but nothing 
beyond; on the contrary, the human intelligence at once 
deciphers the symbolic characters of that book. The 
validity of our intuitive perceptions must, therefore, be 
referred to this pre-constructed harmony between the 
soul and nature. 

Our primitive intuitions comprehend judgments, sen- 
timents, and fundamental principles of belief. 

Perception is the first stage of intelligence; but per- 
ception, regarded as a distinct stage of intelligence, 
involves something more than a summation of sensual 
impressions. By perception we become immediately 
conscious of the qualities of material objects. Out of our 
perceptions arise certain necessary and intuitive judg- 
ments. We perceive the properties of an object separate- 
ly as well as in connection with the object considered as 
:a collective unity, and thus recognize and distinguish 
objects by their properties; every such cognition, 
obviously, involves a judgment; in point of fact, a 
proposition, which, though not expressed, is not the less 
felt and understood as such. We perceive the physical 
qualities of an object, but we apprehend something 
more, — we are conscious that the me^ the percipient, is dis- 
tinct from, and independent of, the not me, or the thing- 
perceived. The sentiment of the beautiful is intuitive: 
we look at a flower; — we perceive that it has a certain 
shape, size, and color; but we apprehend far more than 
this, — the perception is associated with pleasurable 
emotions, and an indefinable sense of the leautifid fills the 
^oul. We listen to an exquisite piece of music; — we 
have a perception of tone and time, but along wdth this 
we have the perception of harmony. The moral and re- 



INTUITIVE PERCEPTIONS. 57 

ligioiis sentiments are intuitive; the virgin simplicity of 
a child's moral nature is too apparent to require illustra- 
tion ; education too often blights this original simplicity. 
Our intuitive sentiments involve some of the deepest 
thoughts and principles of our existence. 

Our primitive judgments or intuitive perceptions are, 
of all our forms of intelligence,the most vivid and compre- 
hensive. They give us all the elements of our subsequent 
knowledge, not in signs, or abstract representations, but 
immediately, in our self-consciousness. They are uni- 
versal and invariable, for they are found as well in the 
savage as in the civilized man. They are necesi^ary and 
absolute; for to be different from what they are is im- 
possible. They are formed spontaneously and intuitively; 
that is to say, anterior to and irrespective of any re- 
flective processes; they are unreiiective because they are 
spontaneous, and spontaneous because they flow directly 
from the primeval harmony existing between the mate- 
rial and spiritual worlds. They embody all our experi- 
ence; that is, experience in its most comprehensive sense. 

Our experience (according to the usual acceptation of 
the term) comprehends the knowledge derived from 
sensation and reflection; but does our knowledge stop 
here? We must be careful that we do not leave out some 
element of the inquiry, and then repair the mutilation 
by arbitrary inventions. The fact is, all knowledge hegim 
with experience, but it does not end with experience. 
There are certain intuitive principles of belief, as well 
as certain primitive judgments, such as the relation of 
cause and effect,which cannot be derived from experience. 
Let us propose the question: — What is our primitive 
impression relative to causation? Do we regard it 
simply as a relation of succession, of antecedent and con- 
sequent, or something more? Now the relation of 
succession, which is really derived from experience, is a 
very different thing from the relation of cause and effect. 
When we say that fire melts wax, we mean something 
more than that the phenomenon of fluidity succeeds the 
phenomenon of the contact of fire; in fact, w^e believe 
that there is some active principle in the fire which 



58 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

produces the fluidity. Again, our acts are not only 
sequences to the operation of the will, — we regard them 
(from the primitive laws of our mental operations) as 
the direct effects of our volitions. Thus, every act of 
attention is voluntary, but every voluntary act is char- 
acterized by the circumstance that we consider ourselves 
as the responsible cause of it. A cause, therefore, is 
not merely an antecedent to a phenomenon, it is some- 
thing more; it possesses an active productive power; we 
cannot escape the conclusion, for it is involved in our 
mental existence. To adduce any further illustrations 
of the nature of our fundamental principles of belief is 
unnecessary; enough has been said to render manifest 
the general truth, — that they are based on the laws 
which the Creator has established. 

Every branch of knowledge must pass through the 
intuitive before it can reach the abstract form; that is^ 
the form of abstract representation. There is a reality, 
a depth, an exhaustlessness, in our primitive knowledge, 
but it is vague and undefined; it must become ohjectijied 
before it can become definite; it must be fixed in the 
representative form of language before it can become an 
element of exact science. 

Such is the primitive intelligence, — the intelligence 
of perception and intuition. We now enter upon a new 
and broader platform of development. Hitherto all our 
cognitions have been immediate ; that is to say, they 
have flowed directly from the sensations derived from 
concrete things; now the faculties of memory, con- 
ception, and representation come into active play, and 
create a new world of cognitions, at once spiritual and 
material, — the world of ideas, of signs, and representa- 
tions. The facts of perception are no longer idealized 
impressions, existing, as it were, only subjectively, or in 
our consciousness; they now assume the representative 
form of language, which is a symbolical representation of 
thought, whereby we give a sort of independent and 
external existence to the results of mental operations^ 
The mind translates all its primitive judgments into 
language, and the judgments so symbolized are called 



LAW OF ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 5^ 

propositions. Primitive propositions (like primitive 
judgments) express the relations of concrete things. 
Language expresses our primitive judgments first in 
the form of primitive propositions; but by the aid of the 
faculty of abstraction, these judgments are gradually 
generalized, and then the corresponding propositions 
become general and abstract. Again, by the faculty of 
abstraction we separate the elements of a proposition in 
order to consider them separately; these elements are 
abstract ideas. Thus, in the development of the under- 
standing, we begin with judgment; then follow proposi- 
tions; and last of all we have abstract ideas; judgments 
are formed by the faculty of judgment, one of the 
original functions of the mind. 

We have observed that primitive judgments expressed 
in language are called propositions, or it may be axioms. 
Now it is important to bear in mind that these abstract 
representative forms involve nothing more than what i& 
contained in the primitive forms. When you tell a 
child (with your *' subject, copula, and predicate ") that 
"A rose is beautiful," you tell him nothing but what he 
previously knew and apprehended in the form of a primi- 
tive judgment; that is what you really do, — you show 
him how to express his primitive judgments in language, 
and thereby show him how he may give fixedness and 
precision to his intuitive cognitions; that is, how he may 
give to his silent thoughts and emotions "a local habita- 
tion and a name." 

The law regulating the acquisition of knowledge is this : 
we cognize the concrete before the abstract, the concrete 
being the simple, the abstract the difficult. Primitive 
judgments formed in connection with the sensations de- 
rived from concrete things, precede abstract representa- 
tions and processes requiring the exercise of abstract 
judgment and reason. A child judges of the color of an 
object before he has formed any abstract idea of color; 
he judges of the relation of numbers before he has formed 
any idea of number apart from its concrete representa- 
tions; he judges of form before he has any cognition of 
the abstract definitions of form, and so on. Primi- 



60 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

tive judgments form the basis of all our koowledge, 
whether of abstractions or of processes of reasoning. An 
axiom is an abstract expression of a primitive judgment 
formed in relation to the perception of actual objects; 
these judgments exist in the mind and form the subject* 
of perfect cognition before they are regarded in their 
axiomatic form. Thus, for example, a child would not 
understand you, if you were to tell him that two and 
three make five in consequence of the axiom, that the 
whole is equal to the sum of its parts; but he would 
think and reason in accordance with it, if three objects 
and two objects were placed before him in order that he 
might ascertain their sum. 

Primary education begins with the culture of our 
intuitive perceptions; this culture chiefly consists in 
affording occasions and stimulants for their development, 
and in fixing them in the mind by means of representa- 
tive language; this is what we mean by the cultivation 
of the perceptive faculties. Hence object lessons, picture 
lessons, etc., constitute the best forms of early culture. 

To enlarge on this subject, at present, is unnecessary; 
enough has been said to render manifest the general 
truth, — that the young mind, at every stage of its 
development, is more or less influenced by the culture of 
the primitive or perceptive faculties. 

Classification of the Faculties of the Mind. 

The mind has intellect, feeling, and will. We 
think, we feel, we act, that is to say, we have thoughts 
and feelings, and we have also the power of controlling 
our thoughts and feelings. Hence our internal phenom- 
ena comprehend intellect, feelings or emotions, 
and WILL. The ideal type of the human soul (the image 
of God) consists in the full and harmonious development 
of these three elements; the intellect, in this perfect 
state of development, is characterized by feeedom of 
thought; the emotions by benevolence or love; and 
the will by unrestricted power. Under proper culture 
:(with the blessing of God), the soul gradually assimilates 



CLASSIFICATION OF FACULTIES. 61 

itself to this perfect state of development. It is true, 
that in the present world we may never reach this ideal 
istate of development,neverthele^s we may be constantly 
tending towards it. 

The strength and activity of a faculty depend on the 
force of the will which animates it; and in like manner^ 
the character of our emotions is determined by the 
active force of the will. If we want to ascertain the 
stage of development of the intellectual and moral fac- 
ulties, we must look to the state of the will as regards 
its freedom: this is the true index to all the other ope- 
rations of the mind. In infancy, when the faculties are 
feeble, there is little or no voluntary power; the mind 
is chiefly governed by instincts and intuitions. On the 
other hand, as we acquire more and more intellectual 
and moral power, so we gain more and more force of 
will. Our acts (intellectual as well as moral) are deter- 
mined by actuating principles; that is to say, by motives, 
by habits, and by instincts. Our force of will and 
thought is evidenced by the character of our actuating 
principles. 

Four Distinct Stages of Development. 

There are four phrases in our language which have 
reference to four characteristic or distinct stages of 
mental activity: Ipercei/vethQ thing; I have a conception 
of the thing; I know or understand the thing; and I can 
prove the thing. The faculties called into operation in 
the first act may be named the perceptive faculties; 
those in the second, the conceptive or representative 
faculties; in the third, the knowing faculties, or 
the faculties of the understanding; and in the fourth, 
the REASONING FACULTIES. Thesc four classes of faculties 
characterize four distinct stages of intellectual develop- 
ment. Co-ordinate with these four intellectual stages we 
have also four distinct stages of development of the emo- 
tions and will. The first intellectual stage is marked by 
a maximum of sensibility with a minimum force of will; 
the second by a diminution of sensibility with an increase 



62 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOJf. 

of the force of will ; the third, by a further diminution 
of sensibility, with a further increase of the force of 
will; and the fourth by a minimuni of sensibility with a 
maximum force of will. These four stages, then,respect- 
ively comprehend the condition of the intellect, the 
emotions, and the will; that is, of the whole mind. All 
the functions of the mind, more or less developed, exist 
in these different stages; at the same time it must be 
understood that one stage gradually merges into that 
which succeeds it. These stages of development sepa- 
rately exist under a condition of transition and assimila- 
tion. The commencement of each is marked by the 
birth of anew faculty which had previously existed only 
in a latent or embryo form. They are distinguished 
from one another by the peculiar activity of the faculty 
which characterizes each; and they are mutually con- 
nected by the necessity of a certain amount of simulta- 
neous action and development.* 

The classification of the intellectual and moral faculties 



* The following mode of representation may aid the conception 
in realizing the mutual relations of these stages of development. 

Human intelligence, in its different forms of development, is 
intermediate between the animal organism, the zero of intelli- 
gence, and the infinite. Between the zero of intelligence and the 
infinite there are four ascending stages, respectively continuous, 
but each joined to the one which succeeds it by an abrupt line of 
connection indicatmg the explicit development of a new power. 
At each step of the ascent, we approach the infinite and recede 
from the zero. At the base of these four ascending stages or plat- 
forms of development, we place the line which marks the level 
of the animal organism. Ascending from this base line, we have 
the first stage of development, which marks the region of intui- 
tion: somewhat abruptly this stage connects itself wilh the sec- 
ond stage of development, which marks the region of representa- 
tion, and so on, until we arrive at the most elevated stage of 
human development, the region of thought and reflection, which 
continually approaches the line of infinite elevation without ever 
reaching it. However high human intelligence may rise in the 
region of thought, it must always be infinitely removed from the 
infinite intelligence, the image of God; but the first stage of 
human intelligence in its descent approaches nearer and nearer, 
until it is indefinitely near to the zero of intelligence, the animal 
organism. 



CLASSIFICATION OF FACULTIES. 



63 



here proposed, is distinctly exhibited in the following 
tabular forms. 

I. Classification of the Faculties of the Mind as 
A Whole. 



Stages of 
Development. 


The Intellectual Facul- 
ties. 


The Moral Faculties. 


The Feelings. 


The Will. 


1st Stage. 

1 


The Perceptive 
Faculties. 


Passive emotions 
and sentiments. 


Instinct and pas- 
sions with little 
voluntary power. 


2cl Stage. 


The Conceptive 
or Eepresenta- 
tive faculties. 


Sentiments, active 
emotions, and af- 
fections. ' 


Instincts and pas- 
sions with some 
voluntary power. 


3d Stage. 


The Knowing fa- 
culties, or the 
faculties of the 
understanding 


Affections more en- 
larged and active. 


Considerable force 
of Will. 


4th Stage. 


The Keasoning 

faculties. 


Benevolence or 
Love. 


Freedom of Will. 



II. Classification of the Intellectual Faculties. 



stages of 
Development. 


Characteristic Class of 
Faculties. 


General Character of 
each Class. 


Individual Faculties in each 
Class. 


1st Stage. 


The Perceptive 
faculties. 


Intuitive. 


Sensation.Perception. 
Attention. Observa- 
tion. Retention. Pri- 
mitive judgment or 
intuitive perception. 


2d Stage. 


The Conceptive 
or Representa- 
tive faculties. 


Representative. 


Memory. Imitation. 
Conception . Imagin- 
ation. Association. 
Recollection. Repre- 
sentation as exhibit- 
ed in language. Pri- 
mitive judgment as- 
sociated with con- 
ception. 



64 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



1 

stages of 1 Characteristic Class of 
Development. i Faculties. 


Geoeral Character of 
each Class. 


Individual Faculties in «atli 
Class. 


3d Stage. 


The Knowing fa- 
culties, or the 
faculties of the 
Understand- 
ing. 


Cognitive. 


Abstraction. Classifi- 
cation. Generaliza- 
tion. Explicit com- 
parison, composi- 
tion, and analysis. 
Judgment, etc. 


4th Stage. 


The Reasoning 
faculties. 


Cogitative. 


Reason as exercised 
in: Demonstration; 
Induction; Explicit 
Observation, Reflec- 
tion; Speculative 
thinking, etc. 



Explanatory Remarks. 



First Stage. — Here the cliaracteristic faculty is per- 
ception; but all the faculties of intelligence must exist 
rudimentally or implicitly in this stage of mental phe- 
nomena. The chief motive principles are instinct and 
intuition; yet at the same time it must be observed that 
there cannot be the slightest consciousness of a sensation 
without an act of attention, that is, without some activity 
of will. On the whole, our mental phenomena, at this 
stage, are characterized by sensibility and sentiment,, 
rather than by thought and reflection. 

Observation is a comj^ound faculty comprehending 
(more or less according to circumstances) Discernment, 
Comparison, Composition, and Implicit Abstraction. 
Observation may be either implicit or explicit; that is, 
it may be to a great extent an unconscious act of the 
mind, or it may be in the highest sense a voluntary act, 
performed from a preconcerted plan and for the attain- 
ment of a specific and defined object. In the latter sense, 
observation is decidedly a faculty of reason ; in the former 
sense it belongs to the perceptive class of faculties. 

Primitive Judgment is the faculty of judgment in its 
fir st or primitive form, by the exercise of which the 
ch ild at once cognizes simple truths or intuitive pro- 
positions. Observation and Primitive Judgment may 



KETEJ^TIOJS^. MEMORY. 65 

"be regarded as the nidimental or embryo forms of 
Keason. 

Retention is tbe primitive or rudimentary form of 
memory. With a slight effort of will the prominent 
features of an impression are retained in the mind; this 
power we have called retention: but after the impression 
has entirely faded from the mind it is revived or recalled 
by the power of memory. By attention the mind lays 
hold of sensational impressions, idealizes them, and 
fixes them in the soul in the form of primitive knowl- 
edge. Strictly speaking, we do not retain the sensa- 
tional impression, but only those prominent portions of 
it to which the attention has been most powerfully 
directed, and which the mind has idealized, or made, as 
it were, part of itself. We look intently at a striking- 
object, — w^e close our eyes; the image of the object is 
retained in the mind,not by a conscious effort of will, or 
by an ordinary act of memory, but by a power some- 
what resembling it. The products of sensations, consti- 
tuting the results of experience, soon find a lodgment in 
our mental treasury, and of their existence the mind be- 
comes conscious whenever similar sensations are pre- 
sented. The recurrence of the same sensation gradually 
gives rise to the power of consciously recalling it. 

In this stage, external phenomena and their relations 
are viewed, less as subjects of tliought than as objects of 
imtiment and feeling : the mind, standing, as it were, face 
to face with the objects of perception,is necessarily more 
engaged with the contemplation of the objects them- 
selves than with its own self-consciousness; hence the 
mind is more sensual than reflective. Now a new class 
of faculties, memory and conception, are about to play 
their part in the mental history, and to draw the mind 
more away from the dominion of mere sensational im- 
pressions: We now pass from the sphere of perception 
and intuition to that of conception and representation. 

Second Stage. — Here the first faculty to be considered 
is MEMORY. We exercise this faculty when we recall 
ideas or intuitions with the full and distinct consciousness 
of the connection between the type and the antitype. 



66 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

Attention, as a decidedly voluntary power,now exercises 
the most powerful influences in the development of the 
other faculties. We look intently at an object of beauty; 
a sensation is produced, the attention is aroused: we 
look again at the object and examine all its prominent 
features, as well in their relations to one another as in 
their relations to the object as a wdiole; we idealize the 
sensation, that is, we throw it into a form suited to our 
apprehension : here the mental operations involved in the 
act of perception enable us readily to recall the image we 
liave consciously constructed. Strictly speaking,memory 
IS a repetition of a mental operation accompanied with 
the consciousness of its prior existence; what we recall 
is simply the product of the mind's operations. When 
we remember a thing, we reproduce the mental opera- 
tions connected with the immediate perception of it. 

The next faculty to be considered is conception. In 
every act of memory the image which is recalled is 
always connected, in our consciousness, with the actual 
impression which had been previously produced by the 
object: but this image may become so idealized that we 
at length lose sight of its connection with the original 
impression; in fact, the idea,apart from the object itself, 
may become a distinct object of consciousness and con- 
templation: this mental j^rocess is called conception. 
The peculiar function of conception is to store the mind 
with ideas formed out of our immediate perceptions, by 
aid of attention and memory. This accumulation of ideas 
tends to elevate the mind more and more above the in- 
fluence of external impres^ons; to give the mind a more 
independent existence; to! engage it more in the con- 
templation of the world of its own creation, — the world 
of conceptions and inward representations. Imagina- 
tion is a higher kind of conception; the latter is repro- 
ductive, the o\\iev productive oi\ creative. Imagination com- 
bines and modifies our concej^itions of existing things in 
such a way as to produce a purely ideal or fictitious 
representation. Conception is something more than 
memory an the one hand, and something less than imag- 
ination on the other. 



ASSOCIATION. 67 

The faculty of association now gives us a new power 
over our mental operations, — it gives order and ar- 
rangement to our ideas and conceptions, and enables us 
to represent them by signs and symbols. By the faculty 
of association, certain sounds and written signs become 
suggestive of, or associated with, certain ideas; the 
name of a thing, for example, whether spoken or written, 
becomes associated with the conception or idea of the 
thing, so that the presence of the one suggests that of 
the other. But we arrive at this result progressively. 
The origin of language gives us the origin and natural 
history of the faculty of representation. Our first out- 
ward signs of ideas are gestures; a nod is the repre- 
sentation of an affirmation; a shake of the head, of a 
negation, and so on. Our natural wants are also indicated 
by characteristic gestures. Sounds imitative of the 
peculiar cries of animals are taken as the signs of the 
idea of those animals. Oar natural expressions of plea- 
sure, pain, surprise, etc., also readily become the symbols 
of the mental states which they indicate. Spoken lan- 
guage naturally comes before written language; a child 
perceives a particular object; vre point to it and ex- 
press its name; the process is repeated until at length 
the idea of the object and the name of it are inseparably 
associated in the child's mind. A child interprets a 
life-like picture as we do a book; he reads in that 
picture the history of the acts, passions, and habits of 
the creatures represented. Picture writing is the next 
obvious stage in the representative process, and it is not 
difficult to conceive how the pictorial process of rep- 
resentation would gradually merge into a purely 
symbolic representation. A written language, then, 
composed of arbitrary symbolic characters, is the highest 
evidence of the free exercise of the representative fac- 
ulty. It completely oljectifies our ideas, and gives, as 
it were, a twofold existence to the products of thought. 
Words and ideas exercise a reciprocal influence on each 
other; the visible representation suggests its corre- 
sponding idea, and the idea suggests its corresponding 
representation. 



68 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

By the faculty of recollection we retain words,and, 
through them, reproduce the ideas which they sym- 
bolize. 

Third Stage. — Language not only enables us to ex- 
press our ideas by signs or words, but it further enables 
us to express the various relations which these ideas 
bear to one another, that is to say, it enables us to ex- 
press our judgments in the form of propositions. This is 
a step in advance of the foregoing stage of development. 
Now we have to express our primitive judgments, em- 
bodying all the results of our experience, in the form of 
propositions; but, besides this, we have to classify, ex- 
tend, and generalize these judgments, and to express 
them in the form of general or abstract propositions. The 
faculties of abstraction, classification, and generalization, 
which have been hitherto only incidentally and implicitly 
exercised, must now be methodically and explicitly 
brought to bear upon the materials of knowledge. 

There are two kinds of abstraction, viz., mediate and 
immediate. In mediate abstraction, we compare the 
qualities of different objects, reject their differences in 
order to fix upon their resemblances, and from these 
resemblances we derive a general or abstract idea. In 
immediate abstraction, we compare the parts or qualities 
of a single object; eliminating and neglecting the indi- 
vidual and variable parts, we disengage the general and 
invariable part, and give it the form of an abstract or 
general idea. In both cases the end proposed is the 
derivation of a general idea; this general idea, being 
fixed and expressed by a term, will be henceforth used 
as a common sign of a complete class of phenomena. 
The mind, by fixing its attention on abstract words, or 
general terms, as the signs of ideas, disengages itself 
from the minor details involved in the contemplation of 
the concrete world. 

Having gained a new store of abstract and general 
terms, we express our judgments in those terms, and 
thus derive abstract propositions. We compare abstract 
terms with each other, so as to determine their agree- 
ment or disagreement; we analy%e propositions express- 



INDUCTIVE REASONING. 69 

ing our judgments, and put the elements together in 
another form better suited to our apprehension. These 
mental operations indicate that we have passed into a 
higher region of thought, and that we have arrived at an 
altitude of development which gives us a wider, a more 
exact, and a less obstructed range of view than we had 
iit the anterior period of development. 

Fourth Stage. — Being provided with the great in- 
strument of thought — ^language — reason now freely 
expands itself; it wings its ways into every region of 
inquiry in search of truth; it methodizes all its ma- 
terials of thought, and proceeds to investigate truth 
according to certain definite and explicit modes; it lays 
down certain self-determined principles of action, and 
suborns to itself all the other operations of the mind; 
with a penetrating and comprehensive glance, it looks 
back upon all the processes of thought through which it 
has passed, and links the past with the present, and the 
present Avith the future. Reason, in this condition of 
freedom, is not merely cognitive, it is also cogitative; it 
not merely seeks knowledge, but it also seeks to discover 
the sources of knowledge; — it endeavors to penetrate 
truth to its very centre, — to trace truth in its origin, 
history, and consequences. 

Inductive reasoning leads us to a knowledge of the 
general laws of nature; deductive reasoning enables us 
to tell the antecedents of any given phenomenon, and to 
foretell its consequents. By abstract or speculative 
reason we attain a knowledge of universal truths, em- 
bracing alike the laws which govern the operations of 
nature, and the operations of thought. Our intelligence 
is now much higher in the scale of development, than 
that which we characterized by conception and under- 
standing; it contains the ideality of the one combined 
with the exactness of the other; it embodies all the 
anterior developments in one harmonious, definite unity; 
— in short, it is complete freedom of thought under the 
condition of law and responsibility. 



70 philosophy of education. 

Essential Points to be consideked in eelation to 
Method as applied to Education. 

I. The nature of the faculties. 

II. The subjects best adapted for the cultivation of 
each class of faculties. ^ 

III. The nature of the motives acting on each class of 
faculties. 

IV. The habits of action to be established in relation 
to each class of faculties. 

V. The methods of instruction adapted to each class 
of faculties. 

YI. Application of results to the different periods of 
education. 

I. Nature of the Faculties. 

The nature of the faculties may be viewed under the 
following aspects: — 

1. The peculiar function of each faculty. 

2. Mutual relation of the faculties. 

3. Classification of the faculties with respect to their 
simultaneous cultivation. 

1. The Peculiar Function of each Faculty, 

"What we have further to adduce relative to the nature 
of each faculty, has a special bearing on method as ap- 
plied to education. 

It has been observed that reason and other faculties 
of thought, exist in a rudimentary form at the very earli- 
est stages of development; but there is a period in our 
intellectual growth when these faculties attain certain de- 
finite or explicit stages of development. So far as regards 
the purpose of elementary education, it may be assumed 
that each faculty may exist in two distinct states of de- 
velopment; viz., in its first or simple form of develop- 
ment, or in its latest or complex form. What, then, are 
the characteristics of these two states? 

Certain faculties may exist in distinct and determinate 
states of development, depending for the most part on the 



FUNCTIONS OF THE FACULTIES. 71 

nature of the subject of instruction; that is to say, whether the 
tulject he concrete or abstract. 

In general a faculty will exist either in a simple or in 
a complex state, according as the subject to which it is 
directed is concrete or abstract. Thus, we may have 
either simple conception or abstract conception; simple 
abstraction or complex abstraction; simple memory or 
recollection, ideality or imagination; intuitive reasoning 
or abstract reasoning, and so on. These faculties at the 
first stage of their development have simple and definite 
functions, whereas at the latest stage they assume new 
and more complex functions as we rise higher into the 
region of intellection. It is true that these two states of 
development gradually merge into each other, accorditg 
as we blend the two classes of subjects together. 

Conception. — Our simplest conceptions are formed by the 
aid of models and pictorial representations; abstract con- 
eeption is the conception of a thing formed from a verbal 
description of it. 

Imagination. — This faculty, in its latest state of de- 
velopment, creates fictitious scenes and events, and in- 
vests mere abstractions with all the qualities of vital 
existence. But the ideality peculiar to young children 
is very little removed from simple conception; with the 
aid of visible representations they form the idea of absent 
objects or distant scenes; a stick with a rag tied round 
it is invested with all the qualities of a living baby; a 
small picture enables them to realize the idea of an unseen 
reality; in this case the ideal conception is formed in 
connection with the concrete representation. 

Abstraction. — A child's first abstractions are derived 
from a comparative examination of the properties of con- 
crete things: He forms an abstract idea of number by 
counting various familiar objects; he forms the abstract 
conception of a quadrupedby observing the fact that cats, 
dogs, horses, etc., have a certain quality in common, viz., 
four legs or four feet. Whereas in some of our higher 
abstractions the subject undergoes a process of intellec- 
tion, or intellectual elaboration, before the abfe^tractions 
are completed. Thus, in order to realize the idea of a 



72 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

noun, the child must frequently form a double or complex 
abstraction; for the name of a thing (e. g. bird) is a noun, 
not the thing itself; on the other hand, a horse is really a 
quadruped. 

Some eminent writers on education assert " that the 
faculty of abstraction is the latest in the development of 
the human mind." Now this is only true as regards the 
faculty of complex ahsfraction, for even young children 
readily exercise the faculty of simple ahstraction. 

Ideas of number, form, magnitude, weight, color, etc., 
belong to our simple abstractions; ideas connected with 
our mental operations, the analysis of language, pure 
science, etc., belong to our complex abstractions. 

Reason.— A child's reasoning chiefly consists in making 
simple deductions or inferences from palpable facts or 
from the relations of concrete things; whereas reason,in 
its highest form of development,investigates the relations 
of abstract things. Mental arithmetic,taught by objects, 
calls into activity this early or first form of reason ; phys- 
sical laws, geometry, etc., taught in the same manner, 
also exercise this first form of reason. 

The peculiar function of reason is the investigation 
and recognition of truth; but in every process of 
reasoning there is always something taken for granted 
or assumed to be true. The truths assumed may be 
self-evident axioms, facts derived from observation and 
experiraent,principles derived from induction, or abstract 
^propositions which have been previously established. 
When a child reasons about familiar things, or familiar 
phenomena, the axioms forming the basis of his in- 
ferences are not expressed in an abstract form of 
language, — they are rather understood from their actual 
and special relation to the subjects or objects; in fact, 
his belief in these axioms is of that silent, unconscious, 
instinctive kind of behef. 

The simplicity or complexity of a process of reasoning 
depends upon, 1. The nature of the subject; 2. The 
method; 3. The nature or form of the axiomatic truths 
or propositions, as the case may be. 

1. The nature of the subject. The subject may be 



MUTUAL RELATION OF THE FACULTIES. 73 

either concrete or abstract. In the former case, other 
things being the same, our reasoning will be simple or 
intuitive; in the latter case abstract. 

2. The method may be experimental, inductive, ten- 
tative, or some other method which appeals to the per- 
ceptive faculties; or it may be abstract, that is, the 
method may appeal to the reflective faculties, and not to 
the perceptive faculties. In the former case, other things 
being in keeping, our reasoning will be simple or intui- 
tive; in the latter case abstract. 

3. The nature or form of the axiomatic truths or 
propositions. These may be explained in connection 
with the particular subject, or they may be expressed in 
the form of abstract truths. In the former case, other 
things being in keeping, our reasoning will be simple or 
intuitive; in the latter case abstract. 

Hence we come to the general conclusion, that our 
reasoning will be more or less abstract or difficult, 
according as the faculty of abstraction is more or less 
exercised in the process. 

That our intellectual faculties may exist in two dis- 
tinct states of development seems to have been over- 
looked by teachers, as well as by educational writers: 
these states, as we have endeavored to show, depend on 
the nature of the subject to which the faculty is directed; 
the concrete exercising the simple form of the faculty, 
and the abstract the complex form of the faculty. The 
result of this misconception has been that the cultivation 
of the higher faculties has been too much neglected in 
our elementary schools. We have no hesitation in say- 
ing that the higher faculties, in their first or simple 
forms, may be healthfully exercised at an early age. A 
child of seven years readily forms simple abstractions, 
and reasons clearly about concrete things. 



2, Mutual Relation of the Faculties. 

The following points of relation are worthy of consid- 
eration: — 



74 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

1. Relation of succession. 2. Relation of assimilation. 
3. Relation of aggregation. 

1. Relation of succession. In our various mental pro- 
cesses there is a natural order of succession as regards 
the action of the faculties. Thus, sensation is followed 
by perception; perception and attention are followed by- 
memory and conception; conception, observation, &c., 
by abstraction; and so on. This order of succession 
seems to correspond with the order of development as 

given at p. 63. 

2. Relation of assimilation. All the faculties are at 
first feeble and circumscribed as to their modes of 
action, but under proper culture they gradually gain 
strength and assume new modes of action. This growth 
and development is in many cases equivalent to the 
assimilation of one faculty to another. Thus: — attention 
intensified becomes concetitration, or that faculty whereby 
w^e direct the undivided force of the faculties to a given 
subject. OhservaU'on intensified and methodized becomes an 
important element of inductive reasoning. The con- 
ception of a thing, from a verbal description, is an ideal 
operation nearly allied to imagination. The conceptive 
faculties verge upon the abstract faculties; to form a 
true and complete conception of a complex object we 
must examine its parts, compare them with each other, 
and form a conception of them separately as well as in 
their relations to the whole. And so on to other fac- 
ulties. 

3. Relation of aggregation. A complex mental ope- 
ration may be regarded as an aggregation of certain 
simple operations. Each class of faculties has a leading- 
faculty characterizing the group. Perception is the 
leading or characteristic faculty of the perceptive facul- 
ties; conception and representation, of the conceptive 
and representative faculties; the judgment, of the 
knowing faculties; and reason, of the reasoning facul- 
ties. Each successive group may be regarded as an 
aggregation of all the faculties in the groups preceding 
it, connected with the faculties peculiar to each group. 



SIMULTANEOUS ACTION OF THE FACULTIES. 75 

The different stages of a faculty depend on the mode 
of the aggregation. 

Recollection, or philosoj^hical memory, is simple 
MEMORY acting in conjunction with the faculty of asso- 
ciation, and sometimes with that of reason. 

Ideality is the ideal faculty acting in conjunction 
with the perceptive faculties. Imagination is a more 
ideal kind of conception. 

Simple abstraction is the abstractive faculty acting 
in conjunction with the perceptive faculties. Complex 
ABSTRACTION is the abstractive faculty acting in con- 
junction with the conceptive faculties or the representa- 
tive faculties, or with an abstraction previously formed. 

Intuitive reason is the rational faculty acting in 
conjunction with the perceptive faculties, and it may 
be with simple abstraction. Abstract reason is the 
rational faculty acting in conjunction with complex 
abstraction. 

In order to cultivate any faculty, or class of faculties, 
we should make ourselves acquainted with the mode of 
aggregation. 

3. The Faculties considered with respect to their simultaneous^ 
Action and Cultivation. 

The connection between some of our faculties is so 
close that we cannot exercise one without exercising 
another. Thus, perception, as well as conception, is 
almost always associated with primitive judgment, etc.; 
the faculty of conception cannot be exercised without 
memory; the faculties of conception and language are 
invariably exercised together, — the conception of a 
thing and the name of the tiling are almost inseparable; 
the faculties of abstraction and classification depend upon 
those of conception and comparison ; reason and judgment 
presuppose the development of observation, conception, 
comparison, abstraction, and language, and so on. 

As many of our faculties are almost contemporaneous 
in their action, the cultivation of one class of faculties 
necessarily involves the cultivation of some other. To 



V6 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

cultivate any faculty by itself is scarcely practicable, 
and, indeed, if it were practicable, it is not desirable. In 
giving a lesson, the skilful teacher suits his instruction 
to the cultivation of a series of faculties having a mutual 
affinity. 

Each class of faculties may be cultivated by itself or 
in combination with some other; special attention should 
be given to the leading or characteristic faculty in each 
class. But certain combinations are more eligible for 
simultaneous cultivation than others. The conceptive 
and representative faculties should be cultivated along 
with the perceptive faculties. Memory depends solely 
upon the activity of attention. Language, especially 
technical and abstract terms, should be first taught in 
connection with the exercise of the perceptive faculties. 
Abstraction, judgment, and reason, in the early states of 
their development, should be cultivated in connection 
with the observing or perceptive faculties. The recol- 
lective faculty, or simple memory combined with the 
faculty of association, shouldbe cultivated in connection 
with the reasoning faculties. And so on to other cases. 
As a general rule applicable to early training, we should 
say that the perceptive faculties should form the basis 
of cultivation for all the other faculties of the mind. 

II. The Subjects best adapted for the Cultivatioj^ 

OF THE DIFFERENT FACULTIES. 

Classification of subjects. — The leading topics of 
.school instruction may be reduced to five. 

1. The knowledge and application of facts and prin- 
ciples of direct observation, under which may be in- 
cluded Object Lessons, Lessons on familiar natural 
phenomena and natural history. Mental Arithmetic, 
Drawing, Writing, Speaking, Meaning of terms and 
phrases, etc. 

These subjects specially cultivate the perceptive facul- 
ties, and the conceptive and representative faculties, to- 
gether with simple abstraction and intuitive reason. 

2. The knowledge and application of signs and symbols, 



NATURE OF MOTIVES. 77 

to which WG may refer Reading, Orthography, Symbol- 
ical Arithmetic, etc. 

These subjects chiefly cultivate the representative 
faculties. 

3. The knowledge of facts generally, which includes 
Descriptive Geography, Natural History, Narratives^ 
History (especially of our own country), etc. 

These subjects specially cultivate the knowing facul- 
ties. 

4. The knowledge of general laws and abstract rela- 
tions, to which we may refer Natural and Experimental 
Philosophy, Physical Geography, Arithmetic, Algebra, 
Geometry, Grammar, etc. These subjects specially cul- 
tivate the reasoning faculties. 

5. The knowledge which inculcates sentiment and ex- 
cites reflection, comprehending General Reading, Poetry, 
Music, Religion, etc. 

These subjects specially cultivate the imagination and 
all the higher or reflective faculties, together with the 
moral and religious sentiments. 

in. Natuke of the Motives acting on each Class of 
Faculties. 

The most important motives of action, so far as relates 
to intellectual culture, are as follows: — 

1. Curiosity, or the desire for knowledge. 2. Love of 
the beautiful and the wonderful. 3. The pleasure con- 
nected with the healthful exercise of the faculties. 4^ 
The pleasure of success. 6. Sympathy and emulation. 
6. Desire of approbation. 7. Hope of reward. 8. Fear 
of punishment. 9. Love of distinction. 10. Love of 
truth. 11. Sense of duty. 12. The pleasure derived 
from the possession of knowledge and the consciousness 
of power. 

The first four motives are specially applicable to the 
cultivation of all the faculties at their early stages of 
development; as far as regards the cultivation of the 
perceptive, conceptive, and representative faculties, 
scarcely any other motives of action are necessary. But 
the range of motives must be enlarged wath the growth 



18 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

and development of the faculties. The cultivation of 
the knowing and reasoning faculties frequently requires 
the aid of almost every legitimate motive. Motives of 
action should be varied according to the diversities of 
intellect, character, and subjects of instruction. When 
one motive loses its power another may be effective. 

IV. The Habits op Action to be established in rela- 

tion TO each Class of Faculties. 

The most important habits of action, so far as relates 
to intellectual culture, are as follows; — 

1. Continuous attention. 2. Careful observation. 3. 
Vivacity — Earnestness — Mental activity — Promptitude. 
4. Docility — Veneration — Obedience — Order — Exact- 
ness. 5. Self-reliance — Though tfuln ess — Self -culture — 
Self-examination — Self-control. 6. Concentration — 
Abstractive attention — Systematic study — Analytic ex- 
amination — Distributive classification of knowledge — 
Realization and self-appropriation of knowledge— De- 
cision of character — Strenuous and laborious application. 
v. Reflection — Candor — Devotedness in the pursuit of 
truth — Self-dedication — The philosophic spirit — Correct 
thinking, speaking, writing, and feeling. 

The first five habits should be specially cultivated in 
relation to all the faculties at their early stages of de- 
velopment. These habits, however, have a special rela- 
tion to the perceptive, imitative, and conceptive facul- 
ties; but the range of habits must be enlarged with the 
growth and development of the faculties. The habits 
included in the 6th group should be established in rela- 
tion to the exercise of the knowing or understanding 
faculties; and those included in the Ith group should 
be established in connection with the cultivation of the 
reasoning faculties. 

V. The Methods of Instruction adapted to each 

Class of Faculties. 

The general principles of Method, contained in chap. 
IV. are more or less applicable to the cultivation of all 



EDUCATIONAL PERIODS. 79 

the faculties; and Part II. of this work contains specific 
methods for the cultivation of the different classes of 
faculties. 

YI. Application of Results to the different 
Periods of Education. 

Five Educational Periods. 

Our early life may be divided into five periods. 1. 
Infancy, comprehending about four years. 2. Early 
childhood, extending from four to about seven years of 
age. 3. Ohildbood, extending from seven to about ten 
years of age. 4. Early youth, from ten to about f oufteen 
years of age. 5. Youth, extending from the age of 
fourteen to manhood. 

First Period, Infancy. 

The infant has first to acquire the right use of his 
senses. During the later part of this period the per- 
ceptive faculties attain a coasiderable degree of vigor 
and acuteness; and the conceptive and representative 
faculties, constituting the first evidences of mental exist- 
ence, also characterize the later part of this period. As 
the brain, the organ of thought, is in an imperfect state, 
our instruction should be entirely of a desultory charac- 
ter; we should wait for the spontaneous development 
of the faculties. Speaking, singing, and the names of 
familiar objects constitute the chief subject matters of 
instruction. 

Second Period, Early CJdldhood. 

This period is marked by a greater activity and pre- 
cision of the conceptive and representative faculties, as- 
sociated to some extent with the knowing faculties, and 
the first glimmerings of reason. The sensibilities of the 
child are also quickened, and the impressions produced 
by external objects are deeper and more lasting. Atten- 
tion, at first spontaneous, now becomes a voluntary facul- 
ty. At the early part of this period, instruction should 
be identified with amusement, and all technical learning 



go PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 

should be carefully excluded. We should invest our 
subjects of instruction with some charm calculated to 
engage the feelings. . During this period the mind should 
be prepared for commencing the exertions required at 
the subsequent period. Without being technical or 
strictly systematic, our subjects of instruction should be 
comprehensive, the exclusive object of all our instruction 
being the development of the faculties. Speaking, 
singing, object lessons, lessons on striking natural phe- 
nomena, picture lessons, mental arithmetic, and the facts 
of Scripture (life of Christ, etc.), should form the chief 
subjects of instruction throughout the whole of this 
period. At the latter part of this period, wanting, 
drawing, reading, common arithmetic, and geography 
should be taught in such a way as to form the basis 
of future instruction. Intuitive truths, or simple pro- 
positions, may also be taught as inferences from famil- 
iar facts. 

: Third Periodt Childhood* 

This period is chiefly marked by the dawn of reason 
and imagination, and the fuller develoj)ment of the facul- 
ties of the understanding. During this period, the 
studies of the preceding period should be extended and 
associated with easy processes of reasoning and abstrac- 
tion. The abstract terms and phrases of language, 
arithmetic, geometry, natural science, and grammar, 
should be taught in connection with their concrete 
forms. Lessons on general knowledge should also be 
given, comprehending simple stories, narratives, histori- 
cal sketches, and descriptions of natural scenery, in 
prose as w^ell as in verse. 

Fourth Period, Early Youth. 

Although the perceptive and conceptive faculties still 
maintain their ascendancy, yet during this period the 
understanding and reason attain a certain degree of 
strength. Reason now gives strength and vivacity to 



GENERAL PKlNCirLES OF TEACHING. 81 

all the other faculties, and especially to the recollective 
faculty. As the mind is now capable of more sustained 
exertion, the habit of intensified attention, or the habit 
of directing the undivided force of the faculties to a 
given subject, should form an important object of cul- 
ture. The subjects of instruction belonging to the fore- 
going period should be enlarged, and studied more 
systematically, yet not without a due regard to the 
imperfect state of the reflective faculties. Language, 
mathematics, and the physical sciences and useful arts, 
should be specially studied, not only as means of intel- 
lectual culture, but also as subjects having a direct 
bearing on the business of life. 

Fifth Period. Yoiith. ' 

During this period all the faculties of our nature at- 
tain their full development. Every subject must now 
be studied in its most technical and systematic form ; that 
is, supposing the preceding periods have been duly im- 
proved. Every study must now be pursued with earnest- 
ness, vigor, and determination; and duties, requiring 
strenuous and continued labor, should be performed 
with cheerfulness and exactness for the sake of the end 
to be attained. Competitive examinations and rewards 
now become appropriate as well as powerful stimulants 
to exertion. During this period the subjects of study 
should have a special bearing on the profession or 
business for which the youth is being educated. 



CHAP. lY. 

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING, OR ELEMENTS OF METHOD. 

Have we arrived at any well recognized general prin- 
ciples of method as applied to education? If so, what 
are they? Unfortunately the philosophy of method has 
never yet been systematically studied by practical 
teachers, nor have its principles been fairly applied by 



82 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

them with the view of determining what are the true 
general principles or axioms of education. However, a 
careful induction of recognized psychological facts has 
led us to regard the following as deserving a place 
amongst those axioms or general principles. The un- 
settled state of our knowledge on this subject will form 
the best apology for the imperfection, or it may be the 
errors, of the following summary of general principles. 
It will be observed that many of these principles give 
different faces or aspects of the same general principle; 
such aspects are essential to the full development of the 
subject matter, and give a precision and a distinctiveness 
to the different modes in which an important general 
principle may \>e applied. 



I. Our methods of education should act in co-operation with, and 
should form adjuncts to, the natural order and mode of devel- 
opment of the physical, intellectual, and moral faculties of thf 
children ; in short, we must teach children after the way hy 
ivhich nature intended that they should he taught. 

This must comprehend all other general principles of 
education. 

The faculties of children develop themselves slowly; 
one faculty shows itself before another; some are as 
active, and almost as vigorous, in the child as they are 
in the full-grown man, — such as perception,simple mem- 
ory, curiosity, etc.; on the contrary, certain faculties 
never attain their full development until the child has 
arrived at the period of maturity, — such as recollection, 
or philosophical memory, imagination, abstraction, rea- 
son, etc. 

All the faculties are invigorated by being properly 
exercised; whereas, on the other hand, they may be en- 
feebled by being overtasked, or by being exercised on 
subjects which do not come within their proper sphere. 
The subjects of instruction, as well as the methods of 
instruction, should be adapted to the strength of the 
faculties. 



NATURAL DEVELOPMENT OF FACULTIES. 83 

Our business is not to destroy any faculty, but to 
follow out the intentions of nature in relation to its de- 
velopment; — our business is not to create any faculty, 
but to cultivate all the faculties which God has bestowed 
upon the child, according to the plan or method which 
He has ordained. 

The cultivation of any faculty should have a relation 
to the period at which it develops itself; thus, for ex- 
ample, the faculty of observation is strong in young 
children, that of abstract reason is weak; hence we should 
communicate knowledge to young children throuo^h their 
perceptive faculties, and we should at the same time be 
careful that we do not overtask the faculty of reason. 
Certain faculties attain distinct states of development 
corresponding to the growth of the mind as a whole; ide- 
ality, simple abstraction, and intuitive reason are devel- 
oped at an early period; whereas complex abstraction 
and abstract reason are the latest in the development of 
the human mind. 

As a first condition of success in teaching, the master 
should be thoroughly acquainted with the laws regu- 
lating the development of the faculties of the being to be 
educated; his work becomes comparatively easy and 
pleasant when his methods of instruction are framed in 
accordance with these laws. 

The various faculties require distinct modes of culti- 
vation; so that what may be requisite for the develop- 
ment of one, may not be best adapted for the develop- 
ment of another; one course of study may cultivate the 
faculty of recollection, another course that of imagina- 
tion; and so on. In order, therefore, to give a full 
elucidation of this subject, it is necessary that we should 
consider the various faculties of our nature in detail, 
with the view of determining the best modes for their 
respective cultivation. This we purpose to do in another 
part of this work. But there are certain general prin- 
ciples which have respect to the development of the 
mind as a whole, and these we purpose to consider be- 
fore giving an account of the cultivation of particular 
faculties, or particular classes of faculties. 



84 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

On the cultivation of peculiar tempers and talents of 
children, Locke observes: *' We must not hope wholly 
to change their original tempers, nor make the gay 
pensive and grave, nor the melancholy sportive without 
spoiling them. God has stamped certain characters upon 
men's minds, which, like their shapes, may perhaps be a 
little mended; but can hardly be totally altered and 
transformed into the contrary. He, therefore, that is 
about children, should well study their natures and apti- 
tudes, and see by often trials, what turn they easily take, 
and what becomes them; observe what their nat've 
stock is, how it may be improved, and what it is fit for; 
he should consider what they want, whether they be ca- 
pable of having it wrought into them by industry, and 
incorporated there by practice; and whether it be worth 
while to endeavor it. For in many cases, ail that we 
can do, or should aim at, is, to make the best of what 
nature has given, to prevent the vices and faults to 
which such a constitution is most inclined, and give it all 
the advantages it is capable of. Every one's natural 
genius should be carried as far as it could; but to attempt 
the putting another upon him, will be but labor in vain; 
and what is so plastered on, will at best sit but unto- 
wardly, and have always hanging to it the ungraceful- 
ness of constraint and affectation." 



II. The chief object of primary educatio7i is to develop all the 
faculties of our nature, physical, intellectual, and moral. At 
the same time, the development of the faculties of children 
ahove a certain age, should have a due regard to their future 
employment in the present world, as ivell as to their future 
destiny in the world to come. Instruction should he character- 
ized by the principle of utility and development. 

The first ten years of a child's life is peculiarly the 
period of development. During this period the acquisi- 
tion of knowledge is in itself a very secondary object, — 
it is a 7neans for securing a great end^ and that end is 
the development of the faculties. No knowledge, how- 



K.VOWLEDGE A MEANS TO AX END. 85 

ever valuable in itself, can compensate for the deadening 
influence which its acquisition may have had upon the 
faculties of the child; on the other hand, no knowledge, 
however trifling in itself, should be despised which en- 
livens and invigorates these faculties. 

The mind, from its very constitution, seeks to develop 
itself. A boy is not a mere recipient of knowledge; his 
faculties are continually developing themselves by exer- 
cise. Everything in the world around him tends to 
stimulate this development. His Creator has placed 
him in this beautiful world, where all its laws and 
phenomena tend to quicken, develop,and elevate his phys- 
ical, intellectual, and moral faculties. The creature 
should surely follow out the intentions of the Creator! 

But educators, in the place of fostering this develop- 
ment, have too frequently directed their energies to 
counteract it, — instead of regarding knowledge as a 
means J they have looked upon it as an end. " Some 
propose (observes Woodbridge) as the object of all their 
efforts, to communicate as much positive knowledge as 
possible; they often produce living encyclopaedias, unfit 
for useful activity. Oi.hers perceive how little this ac- 
cumulation of abstract kuow^iedge avails in preparation 
for active life, and direct their attention almost ex- 
clusively to matters of a practical nature. On this plan, 
there is no small danger of producing mere instruments 
for others — men almost incapable of original thought or 
independent action." These systems taken separately are 
obviously imperfect. The faculties, as we have already 
showni, can always be developed in harmony with the 
useful nature of the subjects of instruction, for what is 
most instruetive to the mind of the hoy will generally be 
found to be the most useful to the man\ so that, in reality, 
there is not necessarily any antagonism between the prin- 
ciple of utiiit^r and that of development. Withoui losing 
sight of the importance of practical knowledge,especially 
at the later stages of elementary instruction, the truly 
enlightened educator- will ever regard the development 
of the faculties as the great end of all his teaching; but 
from the various useful matters of instruction, he will 



86 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

always select that wbich is best calculated to secure this 
end, and his mode or system of teaching will always have 
a reference to the same great end. The question with 
him will not be, — have I conveyed the greatest amonnt 
of technical knowledge in the least possible time? have 
I engrafted the ideas of the man upon the mind of the 
boy? but it will rather be, — have I awakened any ele- 
ment of intellectual or moral vitality which had hitherto 
lain dormant? have, I invigorated or purified any faculty 
which had hitherto existed in a feeble, or in an imperfect 
state of development? and has all this been attained with 
a due regard to the future pursuits and destiny of the 
pupil? 

" England expects every man to do his duty." The 
schoolmaster has a sacred duty to discharge in relation 
to his country, — he has to educate his pupils in such a 
way that they may be fully prepared for carrying out the 
work which she expects them to perform. England has 
a great destiny to fulfil! on her empire the sun never 
sets! she holds under her sway the fairest and richest 
portions of the globe! and to all of them she has to ex- 
tend the blessings of her civilization. What our people 
have done for North America, we have yet to do for 
South Africa and Asia; the jungle, the lair of the lion 
and the tiger, has to be converted into corn fields and 
gardens; our mining appliances have to be transported 
to the gold fields of Australia; railways, facilitating the 
transport of material and produce, have to be constructed 
in all our great colonies; and our various forms of ma- 
chinery, economizing time and labor, have to be estab- 
lished wherever nature affords facilities and scope for 
their application. Now which is the class of men best 
qualified for carrying out this mighty work? Is it our 
classical scholars and abstract mathematicians? Surely 
not; we want men of heads and hands; men of skilled 
labor, thoroughly conversant with all our practical 
sciences and arts. Teachers! such is the class of men 
at present wanted by your country, and the training of 
such men should form one great object of your school 
instruction. 



DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE HARMONIOUS. 87 

III. But the end of education is not merely to develop the facul- 
ties of the child, it is also to develop them all in harmony with 
one another, and with a due regard to their proper order and 
relative importance. 

Nature, or rather the God of nature, intended that the 
development of the intellectual and moral faculties should 
he complete and harmonious, that no faculty should be 
cultivated at the expense of another, and that every 
Yicious and morbid tendency should be restrained and 
corrected. The work of education should be corrective 
as well as directive. The basis of our instruction, as 
well as the methods of instruction, should be commen- 
surate with the complete development of the faculties. 

Every faculty should be cultivated the moment it is 
capable of healthy action, for the ultimate force of any 
faculty is dependent upon its early exercise, not less than 
upon the frequency with which it is exercised. In early 
youth all the faculties are under our control, and may 
be readily moulded by education; but at a later period 
they acquire such a rigidity and set as to resist further 
change or improvement. 

Whilst all the faculties have each an independent mode 
of action, and admit of distinct modes of culture, the 
complete development of one faculty often depends on 
the exercise of another; for example, the faculty of 
recollection, which is the most perfect form of memory, 
depends upon the exercise of the reasoning powers. We 
should not, therefore, unnecessarily defer the cultivation 
of the higher faculties. 

In many of our schools, no means are employed for 
the cultivation of the perceptive and observing faculties, 
and the reasoning powers are either entirely neglected 
or cultivated upon too narrow a basis. 

That system of instruction is especially defective 
which cultivates the intellectual powers and neglects the 
training of the affections and moral feelings. 

The system, practised in too many of our schools, of 
cramming boys with a knowledge of particular subjects, 
is not only erroneous in method, but highly reprehensible 



88 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

on the ground of moral principle. One boy is almost 
exclusively taught drawinof, another mental arithmetic, 
and so on, with the view of exhibiting, at some public 
examination, the little intellectual prodigies to an ad- 
miring crowd of visitors. This one-sided system cannot 
be too strongly denounced; it is a lie of the most mis- 
chievous character, — it is deceptive in its aim as well as 
in its results, — it heartlessly sacrifices the future happi- 
ness of the child to pander to a morbid taste on the 
23art of the public for witnessing cases of unhealthful 
precocity of intellect. The school-room should never 
become a hot-bed for stimulating the growth and de- 
velopment of early genius. As all the boys, in each 
class of a national school, breathe the same air, engage in 
the same physical exercises, and subsist upon the same 
kind of diet, so, as a general rule, the same intellectual and 
moral aliment will be found suitable to the appetites of 
all,and the same instruments of development will be found 
adapted to the powers of all. If it be requisite to adopt 
any exceptional rule to the general form of class instruc- 
tion, we should say, let the master specially help those 
that cannot help themselves — let him check the way- 
ward, and at the same time let him gently lead the 
feeble nurslings of his flock; let him specially care for 
the dunces, and leave the geniuses, under certain restric- 
tion, to care for themselves. That school is not in a 
healthful condition, where there is a great disparity in 
the attainments of the pupils, and where there is a want 
of an harmonious development of all the faculties and 
susceptibilities of the pupils. At the same time, it must 
be conceded, that the management of peculiar tempers, 
dispositions, and tastes must depend upon the individual 
skill aud judgment of the master. While he adheres to 
his general plan of class instruction, he will not "permit 
himself to misapprehend, or to pervert according to his 
own contracted views, that which the Creator has or- 
dered in infinite wisdom," — he wall not confound the 
amiable and good with the mischievous and wicked, — 
he will not discourage the intelligent and industrious by 
connectmg them with the ignorant and lazy, and when 



INSTRUCTION SHOULD BE PROGRESSIVE. 89 

mere class arrangements fail in giving a proper scope 
for the exercise of the minds of superior boys, be will 
assign them some special duties for their self-improve- 
ment and development. 



IV. In order to promote the harmonious development of 
the faculties^ instruction should he progressive, — the range of 
subjects, as ivell as the methods employed in teaching them, 
should he extended and completed as the faculties of the pupil 
are expanded and 



According to tliis method, the instruction first given 
to little children should be as simple as possible. But 
as their minds become more and more developed, the 
subject matter of our instruction should be extended and 
systematized accordingly, and the range of instruction, 
as well as the manner in which that instruction is carried 
out, should be duly proportioned to, and commensurate 
with, the growth of the faculties. It is a false idea to 
suppose that we can teach children from a perfect text- 
book on any g'lA^en subject.* It is a lavv of our intel- 



"^ The plan of employing complete text-books has, in my opin- 
ion, contributed to the formation of more dunces than Nature 
herself has ever produced. Our so-called perfect text-books rank 
amongst the greatest evils to be found in our present system of 
instruction. The very completeness and so called strictl}'' logical 
arrangement of these books, are the great causes which render them 
unsuitable for the development of the juvenile mind. The system 
which these books pursue is not the system which nature lays down 
for the development of the human faculties; the juvenile mind is, at 
the very threshold, repulsed by the stately order of their definitions, 
their axioms, their postulates, and their abstractions. No wonder 
that such a S3'stem, followed out rigidly, has caused pedagogues 
and task masters to place the stamp of dunce upon the brow of 
some of the highest orders of intellect, and to drive such intellects 
from the close hot- beds of school instruction to seek for that liealth- 
ful development which is to be found in a free and unrestrained 
communion with the objects of nature. All unnatural and con- 
strained systems of education invariably disgust boys of superior 
minds, and cause them to seek the development of their faculties in 
the way by which nature intended they should be developed. 



90 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

lectual and moral nature that we never arrive at a per- 
fect knowledge of any subject at once; that can only 
be attained by mastering the different parts of it little 
by little, and time after time. The leading or promi- 
nent points of the various departments of human knowl- 
edge, must be fully understood by the young mind, 
before it is capable of entering into the details and sys- 
tematic combinations forming any complete science. 
Hence our instruction should not only be progressive, as 
regards the development of particular departments of 
knowledge, but should also be progressive as regards 
the development of the ensemble, or the collection of sub- 
jects which constitute the matters of instruction. Let us 
take a few examples. 

In the teaching of grammar, we should not teach from 
any perfect text-book, such as Murray's or Morell's, but 
we should first go through a very simple, yet compre- 
hensive system of grammar, explaining the simplest and 
most prominent definitions and principles, without fol- 
lowing them into their minute details. 

In the teaching of practical geometry, we should first 
give the pupils a simple preliminary course of instruction, 
selecting the most simple, striking, and useful problems^ 
aTid arranging them according to the most simple and 
natural order. 

In the teaching of arithmetic, we should first carry 
the pupils through a simple and comprehensive course 
of calculation, embodying all, or nearly all, the funda- 
mental operations of numbers, before we attempted to 
carry them through the so-called systematic course of 
arithmetic, involving long and irksome calculations, 
intended to give expertntss and skill in the manipulation 
of numbers, rather than to awaken and invigorate the 
intellectual faculties. 

In the teaching of familiar sciences, we should 6rst 
teach just so much of all the useful sciences, without a 
slavish regard to their technical arrangement, as could 
be comprehended by the pupils at their particular stage 
of intellectual development, constantly observing, at the 
same time, that the subjects of instruction are arranged 



SELF-DEVELOPMENT. ^1 

according to their order of simplicity and natural affinity^ 
rather than according to their order of conventional 
classification. For example, if we wanted a child to 
understand two laws or principles, which had some ana- 
logy with each other, or depended upon some common 
principle, we should not trouble ourselves with inquiring^ 
whether the one law belonged to statics, or the other to 
hydrostatics; it would be enough for our purpose to 
know that the one would enable us to illustrate the 
other. And so on to the treatment of other subjects. 



V. Our system of teaching should foster the principle of self-- 
development and self -instruction. 

Children like to discover things, and to do things, for 
themselves, and they always attach the highest value to 
the knowledge which is thus acquired. The suggestive 
method of instruction is admirably calculated to foster 
this principle of self-development. A knowledge of the 
properties of objects, of the elements of number, and of 
some of the most obvious laws of nature may be readily 
taught in this way. Jn the course of our instruction we- 
should regard the little pupil, not as a mere recipient of 
knowledge, not as a passive machine to be moved at our 
will, but as a thinking and voluntary agent, capable of 
collecting ideas, and even of originating them, when the 
proper materials or subjects of thought are placed before 
him. But the teacher must not allow his pupils to 
wander in a wrong direction in search of truth. He 
must be constantly by their side, to shield them from 
danger, and to guide them to truth, — to correct their 
errors, and to confirm their discoveries. In order that 
this spirit of self-development may be maintained in a 
condition of vigorous activity, the teacher should never 
require his pupils to do anything which they are not 
able to do; and he should never tell them anything 
which they are capable of finding out for themselves. 
His teaching should be suggestive. As one of the best 
means of self-development. 



02 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

JFe should foster voluntary efforts. 

The teacher should constantly endeavor to incite chil- 
dren to voluntary efforts; this is especially applicable to 
subjects of home instruction. With the generality of 
children this may be readily effected: instead of saying 
to a boy — "Come! you must learn your lesson; if you 
do not I shall tvhip you very severely," — it would be 
much better to say to him — " You have an interesting 
lesson to learn to-night; when you have done with your 
play you will, I am sure, find pleasure in learning it." 
We should catch children in the proper frame of mind 
for learning; and if they are not in that frame of mind, 
when we want to give them instructions, we should 
endeavor to create it. The usual seasons of amusement 
should never be selected for graver kinds of instruction; 
for in order that children may give an earnest attention 
to any subject, their minds should not be preoccupied 
with any matter of particular interest. 

We should catch the clue of thought in a child's mind, 
and then, by following it out, give it the direction which 
we wish it to take. In short, we must observe, follow, 
and then lead. By this means, we may acquire an un- 
limited control over the child's intellectual and moral 
habits, without exercising any positive constraint on his 
liberty of action. 

By this method, we not only cultivate the reflective 
and inventive powers of the child, but we foster the 
principle of self-dependence, which is so essential to his 
future success in life. 

Independence of thought is nearly allied to invention; 
and children are capable of both. Children are more in- 
ventive at six years of age than they are at ten; and 
independence of thought, like the first untainted odor of 
the fresh flow^er, loses its power as the child advances in 
years. Our present systems of education seem to check 
the growth of the inventive faculties, by filling the mind 
with knowledge, rather than attending to the development 
of original power. We teach too much by authority,and 
pay too little regard to the independence and unbiased 



INSTRUCTIOX APPEALING TO THE SEiSSES. 93 

exercise of the reasoning powers. When we put a question 
to children, w^e generally let them know, one way or 
another, what sort of answer we expect from them, and 
they, as a matter of course, in the place of thinking and 
judging for themselves on the matter of inquiry, en- 
deavor to find out what our view of it is, and frame 
their answer accordingly. Boys thus ape the habits of 
thought and manners of men so much that they lose the 
beautiful bloom of eai-ly childhood long before the re- 
flective period of manhood has commenced. In this way 
they may acquire knowledge, but it is gained at a fearful 
cost. Why do we not encourage children to make and 
invent things ? why do we not give them the means of 
constructing toys and simple machines, and of making 
simple experiments for themselves? The answer is ap- 
parent — we are too desirous of moulding the infant soul 
after our preconceived ideas. Newton's first invention 
was a little water mill; and Watt's first steam-engine, 
at least as far as principle is concerned, was his mother's 
kettle. Why have we so few thinkers amongst us, and 
so many great scholars, whose heads are so filled with, 
the ideas of others, that they have no room for any 
thoughts of their own ? Because we keep constantly 
filling the minds of our children with ideas, but rarely 
seek to develop that power which gives a command over 
those ideas. 

VI. In early childliood our subjects of mstriiction should appeal 
to the 



The first object of instruction should be the develop- 
ment of the perceptive and conceptive faculties; this is 
best done by a series of graduated lessons on the prop- 
erties and uses of external objects. These lessons, if 
properly conducted, open up to the mind of the child 
the first great sources of knowledge, awaken curiosity, 
encourage a laudable spirit of inquiry, and cultivate 
habits of observation and attention. Beginning with 
the most familiar things, such as the properties and 
uses of the articles about the house, the teacher advances 



94 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

with slow steps, making sure that his pupils comprehend, 
as far as it is desirable that they should do so, every 
successive lesson; and as their faculties expand, the 
teacher takes care that the subject-matters of instruction 
are enlarged accordingly. 

Before a child can think, he must be supplied with 
the first elements of thought; the names and properties 
of external objects constitute these first elements. Ob- 
jects are distinguished from one another by their prop- 
erties, and a knowledge of these properties can only 
be acquired by sensation and perception; in fact, the 
child must see these properties before he can have any 
idea or conception of the objects to which they belong. 
One body is round or square, black or white, hard or soft, 
transparent or opaque, solid or fluid, etc., according to 
the impression which the body itself produces upon the 
senses of the child; hence it follows that the educator 
should convey a knowledge of the properties of objects, 
and the names by which they are called, in connection 
with the actual perception of the objects themselves. 
The name of a thing, or the name given to the prop- 
erties of a thing, should never be given apart from the 
perception of the thing itself. After the thing is with- 
drawn, the name of it, as well as the conception of it, 
remains fixed in the mind; the vividness and truth- 
fulness of the conception formed of a thing being always 
in proportion to the intensity of the interest which the 
thing itself excited in the mind. Thus words are always 
associated with ideas. A child's mental existence almost 
entirely depends on the exercise of the faculty of con- 
ception. 

At this early stage of development, the proper intellec- 
tual aliment is a Tcnowledge of facts, — these facts become 
the first subjects of reflection, and thus prepare the way 
for a higher development. As the first step in philosophy 
is to make a collection of facts, so the first stages of in- 
struction should be the communication of a knowledge 
of facts, without any attempts to convey a knowledge of 
causes, for this should belong to a higher and subsequent 
period of instruction. Nothing can be more out of place, 



COMPARISON^ AND CONTRAST. 95 

or more absurd, than the attempts of authors, as well 
as of teachers, to explain the causes of familiar phenom- 
ena to very young children; or to bring down to the 
level of their capacity, subjects which presuppose the 
intelligence of riper years. Such instructors fill the 
head of the pupil with learned words and phrases, which 
convey no positive idea to him; torture his memory and 
understanding with a catalogue of frightful names; and 
render the work of education a painful infliction, in the 
place of a delightful duty. 

A hnoivledge of the properties of external objects should he 
taught hy comparison and contrast^ and things that are un- 
known by those that are known. Thus, for instance, in 
explaining the property of transparency, we should show 
that glass is transparent, — that there are other bodies 
which are also transparent, — that there are some bodies 
which are only half-transparent or semi-transparent, — 
and that there is a great number of bodies which are 
opaque. Here the property is made a subject of 
comparison and contrast. Again, the picture of a 
tiger, aided by the resemblance which he has to a cat, 
will enable us to convey a sufficiently correct concep- 
tion of this gigantic specimen of the feline race; thus 
we should say to the child: — A tiger is a great wild, 
savage cat, which can tear an ox in pieces with its 
large claws and teeth with as much ease as our house 
cat can tear a little mouse. In this way we should 
convey a knowledge of the unknown thing, by means of 
the qualities of a thing that is known. Commencing 
with what the child knows, we conduct him by easy 
gradations to a knowledge of what he does not know. 
In like manner, the conception which the child forms 
of his earthly father enables him to form an idea of his 
heaveiily Father: thus he readily understands what is 
meant by the language — " Our Father, which art in 
heaven." 

Pictorial representations aid us in giving vivacity and 
vigor to the faculty of conception. 

We should lead the child to draw simple inferences 
from the properties of the objects presented to his senses. 



96 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 

Glass scratches copper, — glass is harder than copper. 
Iron sinks in water, — iron is heavier than water; wood 
floats on water, — wood is lighter than water: and so on. 

The great end to be attained by object lessons is to 
Lamiliarize the young niind with the meaning of scientilic 
terms and facts, so as to facilitate the systematic study 
of science at a later period. \Y ater floivs from one vessel 
to another, — water is called ^ fluid. Lead is a solid, but 
the heat of the fire causes it to melt, — lead is fusible. 
Water boils in the kettle; the heat makes the water boil; 
the steam that you see coming out of the mouth of the 
kettle is water in the form of vapor., — what you see 
going on is called vaporkation. A little water is spread 
over a plate; the water gradually disappears; what you 
see going on is called evaporation : and so on. Theee les- 
sons should, of course, always be methodical, and suited 
to the ages and capabilities of the children. Some of 
the most important properties and definitions of numbers 
and geometrical figures may be readily taught by means 
of tangible objects. 

Object lessons, to be instructive and interesting, 
should always contain something fresh and sparkling. 
Untortunateiy, teachers are too much in the habit of 
reiterating again and again the same soit of lessons, 
containing similar enumerations of properties, &c. Such 
teachers seem to have no idea that progress should char- 
acterize all our instruction. In our object lessons we 
should alw\ays leave something for the conceptive fac- 
ulty to work out; by this means we give an intellectu- 
ality and ideality to our lessons; graphic pictures and 
strikirjg contrasts or analogies interest the feelings, and 
thereby give depth and vigor to the conceptions; things 
that are visible are associated with things that are invis- 
ible; objects that are near with those that are distant; 
events that are present with those that are past; and the 
present and the past taken together constitute the clew 
by which we penetrate the mazes of the future. 

A child must take many things as facts of observation 
which he may have afterwards to establish by a process 
of abstract reasoning, or by a process of induction; and 



CULTIVATION OF THE IKCiHER FACULTIF.S. 97 

it necessarily follows that many of our first lessons, in 
certain departments of knowledge, must be imperfect; 
we must often rest satisfied with giving tangible de- 
monstrations when logical processes would fail to be 
understood; and where demonstrations cannot be given, 
illustrations must supply their place; we must teach 
particular forms of propositions when the general form 
lies beyond the intellectual grasp of the child; and 
many truths, plain and almost tangible in themselves, 
will be accepted as axioms or as facts, which would not 
be classed under that category by the learned logician. 
Simple expositions of familiar and important truths not 
only exercise and develop the mind, but they are the 
most efficient means of imparting real, positive knowl- 
edge. 

Yll. The reasoning and higher faculties should he culti- 
vated on an enlarged basis of instruction. 

The subject matters of instruction should be commen- 
surate with the expansive nature of the faculties. Our 
rich stores of scientific and useful knowledge furnish us 
with the means of giving a superior kind of culture to 
the reasoning powers. The present basis of school 
instruction is not broad enough to afford scope for the 
full development of the reflective faculties. In addition 
to the subjects of language and mathematics, some of 
the most useful and interesting branches of physical 
science should be more thoroughly and systematically 
taught in our upper schools, not only as a means of 
intellectual culture, but also on account of their imme- 
diate bearing on the business of life. 

Whilst a sufficiently large basis of instruction gives 
breadth and expansiveness to the reflective powers, a 
narrow basis tends to give them a set or leaning, which 
stands in the way of their future development. Now 
we maintain that these faculties are cultivated only 
imperfectly by means of classics and mathematics, — 
they do not properly exercise all the reflective faculties; 
they are too limited in range, and too abstract and 



98 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

scholastic in form; they do not sufficiently bear upon 
the great purposes of life, or prepare the boy for ful- 
filling the duties of the man. As all kinds of philo- 
sophical apparatus can now be purchased at a com- 
paratively cheap price, it is to be hoped that teachers 
will suit their instruction to the advanced state of our 
science and civilization, and that they will no longer 
restrict their subjects of instruction to that narrow 
range of knowledge which characterized an age that is 
past. 



VIII. Indruciion should proceed from the simple to the 
complex. 

Although this principle of education Is generally 
known and acknowledged, yet comparatively few teach- 
ers understand it rightly, or practise it completely. It 
is by no means uncommon to find teachers practising a 
dogmatic and technical system of instruction, while at 
the same time they believe that they are teacihing from 
the simple to the complex: our dogmatic modes of in- 
struction are simple enough as regards the work of the 
master, whilst they are anything but simple when con- 
sidered in relation to the mental efforts required of the 
pupil. As this species of self-delusion is so fatal in its 
consequences, it is important that we should exactly 
understand what is meant by teaching from the simple 
to the complex. We teach from the simple to the 
complex when we explain the various particular forms 
of a general or abstract princi[)le before we attempt to 
explain the general principle itself: or when we ex- 
plain the simpler elements or parts of a subject before 
we attempt to teach the subject as a whole. In order 
to keep within the sphere of the child's capabilities, we 
must advance by slow and sure gradations from the 
things that are known to the things that are unknown. 
What the child does know should form a stepping-stone 
to what he does not know. lu short, we should teach a 
subject little by little, now a little and then a little. 



FROM THE SIMPLE TO THE COMPLEX. 09 

uiitil we liave tangbt tlie whole of it. Let us take a I'tw 
examples: — 

111 learning to write, the child should learn to make 
straight Unes before hooks, and letters before words. 

To" prove any general principle of calculation, we 
should hrst show the principle as applied to a variety of 
particular examples. 

If we wanted to show the nature of an abstract 
proposition hi geometry, we should tirst show the prin- 
ciple as appliecl to some of the most simple and familiar 
cases. 

To make our pupils accpiainted with a technical or 
abstract term, we should express the idea intended to 
be conve}H?d by that term in familiar language,giving at 
the same time a variety of illustrations of its application. 

And so on to other subjects. 

If a teacher wishes to be really successful with chil- 
dren, he must become like a little child in thought, 
feeling, and action; he must, for the time being, cease 
to be what he is, and become what he was once. 
Undoubtedly some teachers possess this remarkable 
power. This power, which seems to be characteristic of 
superior teachers, is no doubt more a natural than an 
acquired gift; yet, notwithstanding, it admits of being- 
strengthened and developed by habit and reflection. 
The learned tutors of colleges, and the proud men of 
science laugh to scorn the humble attempts of the true 
teacher to simplify a process of reasoning, break down 
the difficulties of a problem, or illustrate the truth of a 
general law of nature; — too conscious of their own 
mental power, they seem to have forgotten that they 
were once children, and that their own abstract con- 
ceptions have been the result of long and repeated efforts; 
— they must have the whole of a subject taught, or none 
of it; — they cannot permit the gigantic proportions of a 
favorite subject to be reduced, or in any way stripped of 
their abstract formalities; — their recognized books, like 
holy writ, must neither have anything added to them, nor 
anything taken away from them; — they would rather 
that the doom of stationary ignorance should rest upon 



100 I'HiLOSoriiv or education. 

the child of the poor than that he should acquire knowl- 
edge in any other way than they have prescribed. How 
long wall authority and conventional observances con- 
tinue to fetter our school literature, and to cast a dis- 
astrous shadow over the progress of education? A man 
may know Greek, without being able to teach grammar; 
and he may be master of the higher calculus, without 
being able to give simple expositions of the principles 
of arithmetic. In fact, a person may be too learned for 
a teacher for children; for men of profound knowledge 
usually expect too much of their pupils. It is said that 
Emmerson, one of the best mathematicians of his age, 
always complained that its pupils were all incorrigible 
dunces: the fact is not at all surprising whe^> the dog- 
matic character of the man's system of teaching is taken 
into consideration. 

Besides great skill, the teacher must possess many 
moral qualities, in order to develop and train the 
faculties of children; he must especially possess great 
patience, gentleness, forbearance, and faith. On this 
subject Woodbridge beautifully observes: " The example 
of our Saviour himself in the education of his disciples, 
teaches us the importance of applying these principles 
both to intellectual and moral subjects. How grossly 
erroneous were their ideas in reference to his character 
and destination: how childish and unworthy their plans 
and their contests; and yet with what slowness did He 
unfold the great truths He came to reveal!— how much 
did He leave to be learned after his death! — with what 
gentleness did he tell them, '1 have many things to say 
unto you, but ye cannot bear them now: ' — with what 
patience did He bear with their errors, their follies, and 
their sins! — with what mildness did he generally reprove 
them! — Let the educator beware that he does not 
attempt to be wiser than his Master, and teach things 
which demand efforts for which the infant mind is too 
feeble." 



FACTS AND EXPERIMENTS. 101 

IX. Facts should be taught he/ore causes; and experiments, 
illustrating general laws or principles of nature^ should 
be given before the general laivs or principles are ex- 
pounded. 

In mauy cases, a yonng person can readily understand 
the nature of a law, if it is presented to his senses in 
an actual matter-of-fact form, when he would be utterly 
unable to comprehend ihe technical form in which that 
law is usually expressed. The particular facts upon 
which any general law depends, give to that law a local 
habitation and a familiarized form which enable the 
young mind to become, as it were, its own interpreter. 
General forms of expression are often little better than 
high-sounding terms and empty names, which, if studied 
apart from the facts which they comprehend, rather 
mystify and darken the principles involved in them 
than convey any instructive knowledge to the mind. 
The true educator will never be hasty in drawing gen- 
eralizations, or in expounding causes; in some cases he 
will content himself with giving an exposition of gen- 
eral facts, well knowing that these facts, if thoroughly 
understood, will remain in the minds of his pupils like 
seeds, which time and reflection w^ill aftei'wards cause 
to vegetate and to grow into the full and developed 
forms of general principles. At the same time he will 
constantly bear in mind that his facts should be taught 
in such a way as to conduct his pupils to a knowdedge 
of causes and principles; and his experiments should 
be made so as to lead to a knowledge of j^hysical laws. 
Let us take a few examples. 

If 1 wanted to teach a child the meaning of the term 
elasticity. I should show by experiment the form 
which the property assumes in different familiar sub- 
stances. 

If I wanted to explain the distinctive properties of 
different geometrical figures, I should actually draw 
these figures in a way corresponding to the conditions 
of the abstract definitions which I should have after- 
wards to give. 



1U2 PHlLOSOniY OF EDUCATION. 



If I wanted to teach the laws of magnetism, T should 
iirst make the experiments illustrating these laws, and 
then afterwards lead the pupils to express in their own 
language the law, or laws, which might be derived from 
the facts or experiments. 

If I wanted to show the principle of the lev^er, I 
should divide a thin lath into a certain number of equal 
parts, and after balancing it on the edge of a book, I 
should place different weights at the marks made on 
the lath, so as to balance each other, and then call the 
pupils' attention to the law upon which the equilibrium 
depends. 

If I wanted to explain the leading principles of elec- 
tricity, I should first give a series of experiments, con- 
ducted with an apparatus formed with the most familiar 
articles of household use, such as wine-glasses, sealing- 
wax, tea-trays, brown paper, gutta percha, etc., taking 
care that the leading facts established by the experiments 
were fully admitted and understood before I gave my 
expositions of tlie laws, or it might be of the theories, 
proposed to explain the operation. 

And so on to other subjects of instruction. 

X. We should (each the concrete lefore the abstract. 

In thi^ method of instruction we employ the qualities 
and uses of familiar things and objects to elucidate or 
exphiin the terras, facts, and principles of science and 
art. In this way we lead the mind of tiie ))upi]s from the 
perce})tion of the things which are visible and taui^ible, 
to the conce|)tion of abstract and general principles. 
According to this principle also, the knowledge of lan- 
guage ought to precede the knowledge of grammatical 
rules; and the meaning of alistract propositions ought to 
be explained in connection with their concrete forms. 

Teachers often deceive themselves when they think a 
child has followed them in the explanation of an abstract 
proposition. If they would make the inquiry, they 
would generally find that the child had seized upon 
some concrete form of the absti'action,or that he had at- 



CONSTRUCTIVE TEACHING. 103 

taclied some whimsical sense to tlie terms employed. At 
the day-school T was taught that "a verb is a word which 
signifies to be, to do, or to suffer." I thought that the 
poor verbs were miserable little things, for all their being 
and doing ended in suffering. At the Sunday school I had 
to answer the following question, from the Assembly's 
shorter catechism: — " Ques. Wherein is the moral law 
summarily comprehended ? Ans. The moral law is sum- 
marily comprehended in the Ten Commandments." Now 
when I answer'^d this question I invariably thought of a 
small village called Moralaws Avhich had ten remarkable 
trees growing near it, which I thought were something 
like the Ten Commandments. 

This method of teaching involves the principle of what 
is now^ known by the name of the science of familiar 
things. Let us take a few examples. 

If 1 wanted to explain some general property of num- 
bers,! should do it by means of counters, or balls,or marks. 
If I wanted to show the nature of inflammable substances, 
and the properties of the atmosphere considered in rela- 
tion to combustion, I should direct the attention of the 
pupils to the flame of a candle, and show, by various sim- 
ple experiments, how the vital air maintains the ignition 
of the tallow, etc. Thus the facts exhibit^^d in a burning 
candle become, as it were, the hooks upon which we hang 
our science of combustion. 

iS'o teacher need be at a loss for examples. He may find 
sermons in stones, valuable lessons in the toys of his 
pupils, and even a soap bubble mny be made to dis- 
course most excellent j)hilosophy. 

XI. IVhen 'practicahle^ our teachim/ should he construct )ve. 

By means of this method, as I have before explained, we, 
as it were, build up, part by part, or piece by piece of the 
subject matter of instruction, until we arrive at the 
completion of the whole. 

For example, in explaining the construction of a ma- 
chine I should not draw the whole machine and then pro- 
ceed to explain the mode of its action; on the contrary, I 



104 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

should explain the action and construction of the dif- 
ferent parts as I sketched them upon the blackboard, 
and when I had completed the whole, I should ex- 
plain the combined action of all the parts. In like manner, 
in teaching drawing or practical geometry according to 
the constructive method, I should not draw the whole 
picture or figure, as the case may be, and then proceed to 
explain its construction; but I should explain the con- 
struction of the parts as I sketched them, — giving line 
upon line, and precept upon precept. In this way the 
instruction advances, step by step, with the progress of 
the pictorial representation. We suit the action to the 
word and the word to the action; the one illustrates the 
other; the language of the exposition responds to the ac- 
tion of the teacher and the movements of the pencil : thus 
the work of instruction advances by easy gradations, until 
the whole subject is brought before the eye and the mind 
of the pupil, with all the relations and combinations of its 
parts. The same thing is observed in the teaching of 
arithmetic. I write down step after step, or process 
after process, taking care that each successive step, or 
process, is thoroughly understood before the succeeding 
step, or process, is written down. In teaching the science 
of familiar things, also, I should explain the properties of, 
and the physical or mechanical laws involved in, the dif- 
ferent parts or portions of the object or thing forming the 
subject of the lesson. 

XII. JExpositions of principles applied to particular cases should 
he given lefore rules. 

Mere rules never reach the depths of the soul, and are 
therefore forgotten as soon as they are out of use; and 
what is learnt by rote is little better than so much useless 
lumber in the mind. Rules, in many cases, are not mere 
negations, — they become positive evils; they rarely, if 
ever, aid the development of the mind; in many cases 
they positively retard it. By rules Ave attain results, with- 
out the labor of investigation. There is something, 
soporific in rules, — something which throws an enfeebling 



RULES AND PRINCIPLES. 105 

languor over the intellectual powers, — soncething which 
inflates our vanity, without adding to our self-respect, — 
something which gives us the pretensions of the empiric, 
and the knavery of the juggler. We hold that the Eule 
and Rote system, as it is usually follower!, is intellectually 
and morally erroneous. 

To the earnest instructors of children we would 
say: Never teach by rules, when you can teach by 
principles; never get a child to learn anything by rote, 
until he understands the subject-matter. When he un- 
derstands it, then he will readily learn it by heart and 
not by rote; the subject will have penetrated his soul, — 
he will love it because it has become a part of himself, — 
it will be engraven on his mind, as with a pen of iron, and 
there it will remain, unchanged and unchangeable, for 
ever. 

Some teachers, in order to gain a reputation with the 
wonder-loving public, put the language of the philosopher 
into the mouths of children, — make them recite Euclid 
with the volubility of parrots, and chatter about climatol- 
ogy,entomology, and a host of other ologies, — give them 
rules and technical forms by which they solve problems 
that demand the powers of a mathematician to investi- 
gate. Now there is deception in all this, for the pupils 
are made to appear what they really are not; children in 
years and powers, they are made to mimic all the gravity 
and wisdom of the sage; and what makes the deception 
more deeply culpable, tlie children themselves are made 
parties to the falsehood. 

This method of teaching from principles is eminently 
calculated to foster the development of the reflective 
faculties; — it stands in perfect contrast to rule and rote 
teaching. The latter is dogmatic,the other is persuasive; 
the one supposes the pupil to be a passive recipient of 
knowledge — a mere automaton which acts as it is acted 
upon ; the other regards the pupil as a reasoning,reflective 
and voluntary being, capable of working out results by 
his own independent efl'ort: the one is limited in its ap- 
plication to the particular subject on which it is given ; 
the other seeks to develop those faculties in the pupil 



106 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

which may enable him to grapple with any subject that 
may arise, or, in fact, to create for himself the rules and 
principles which govern the science to which the subject 
belongs. 

XIII. Instruction should he given to children orally and 
collectively. 

There is nothing like the living voice, looks, and action 
of the master, for intensifying the attention and concen- 
trating the faculties of children. He suits his language 
and illustrations to the faculties which he wishes to call 
into activity, and he advances with his subject, step by 
step, according as his pupils make progress. Teaching 
of this kind is a lively reality, not a dead letter, like a 
mere reading lesson. 

Children like to do things in company with one 
another, — they like to learn together as well as to play 
together. This sympathy of association gives a cheerful 
tone to the mind of the instructor as well as to the minds 
of the instructed, and also calls into play a healthful spirit 
of emulation. Besides the answers of the most intelli- 
gent children form one of the best means of instructing 
the most backward pupils in ihe class. 

The efficiency of collective teaching greatly depends 
upon the completeness of our classification of the pupils. 
It is of the highest importance,therefore, that the teacher 
ashould fully determine the true principles on which his 
pu[)ils should be arranged in classes. 

The Principle on which Children should he clmsified. 

While the standard of instruction should not be above 
the capabilities of the pupil, neither should it be below 
them. We may kill by starving as well as by over- 
feeding. In like manner, our intellectual and moral 
aliment may be too weak and simple to supply all the 
elements of growth and development, or it may be too 
strong and stimulating for the functions of digestion and 
assimilation. This nourishment should be apportioned 



INSTRlTCTIO>r SHOULD GIVE PLEASURE. 107 

both as to kind and quantity, so as to maintain all the 
faculties of the child in a healthful and vigorous condi- 
tion of activity and growth. The classification of the 
children in a school should have a special regard to this 
principle: they should be classed, not according to size, 
age, or attainments; not according to their mechanical 
dexterity or their progress in the technical forms of par- 
ticular departments of knowledge; but according to 
their mental power and their capabilities of improvement 
and development. A boy, for example, may be an ex- 
pert calculator, or he may have a good verbal memory; \ 
yet, notwithstanding, his general mental power, or 
capacity of development, may be defective: such a boy 
should be placed in a class correspon«ling to him in gen- 
eral mental power. AVhonever a boy shows a decided 
advance beyond the other members of his class, he 
should be transferred to a higher class; or, if that is not 
expedient, he should have some special work assigned 
him; on the contrary, whefi a boy lags behind his fellows, 
he should either be placed in a lower class or have some 
individual attention given to him, in order to bring him 
up to the average standard of caj^abilities. There is no 
subject of school management which requires more atten- 
tion and judgment on the part of the teacher than that 
of classification. We have here endeavored to point out 
the true principles up(m which it should be based. 

XIY. Instruction should give pleasure to children, mid where 
this is not the case there is something wrong as regards either 
the mode of instruction, or the subject-matter selected for 
instruction. A teacher should govern his pupils hy the prin- 
ciple of love rather than that of fear. 

The proper exercise of our faculties, whether physical, 
intellectual, or moral, affords us pleasure. Light is not 
more pleasant to the eye, or melody to the ear, than 
truth is to the mind, or healthful exercise to the body. 
Instruction must afford children pleasure, if it be given 
in accordance with the general principles which we have 
endeavored to explain; — not tiiat luxurious pleasure 



108 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

which enfeebles their character and renders them unfit 
for strenuous exertion, but that nobler pleasure which is- 
concomitant with the healthful exercise of the faculties. 
One of the first points to be gained in giving instruc- 
tion is 

To secure the attention of the children. 

If a teacher once acquires this power, his work be- 
comes easy and agreeable to himself, and instructive and 
pleasant to his pupils. The great secret in fixing the 
attention of children is to interest them — to mingle 
delightful associations with learning, — never to over- 
strain their faculties, or to fatigue them by keeping 
them too long directed to one particular subject. It 
seems to be a law of our nature that when one faculty- 
is exhausted by exercise, another faculty may be exer- 
cised without a sense of weariness. Thus, for example, 
if a boy is tired with reading history, in the course of 
which a particular class of faculties is exercised, such as 
memory and reflection, he may, without any sense of 
weariness, have his attention directed to some facts of 
experimental philosophy, where another class of facul- 
ties is called into activity, such as perception and obser- 
vation. And wherr the mental powers generally are 
fatigued, then the child will feel the highest enjoyment 
in exercising his physical powers. 

A good collective lesson should not ^>nly engage the 
attention by the interest which it awakens, but it should 
further intensify the attention by stimulating the prim- 
ciples of emulation and sympathy. The most healthful 
motives to application are supplied by the peculiar nature 
and form of our instruction. 

When a boy gets fatigued,or overtasked with any sub- 
ject,he instinctively seeks for enjoyment in talking or in 
play ; this want of attention the grave preceptor calls idle- 
ness and mischief; but the boy is right and the master 
wrong; the boy is only acting in accordance with the in- 
tentions of his Creator; while the master is stupidly, ay, 
and impiously if it were not stupidly, acting contrary to 
these intentions. If the master would teach in accord- 



FRi:NCirLES OF SCHOOL ROUTINE. 109 

ance wilh the general principles which we have endeav- 
ored to expound, the boy w^ould never play when he 
should be at work, or allow his mind to wander in search 
of enjoyment, when a full measure of rational pleasure is 
afforded him by instruction. 

With children the pleasure derived from instruction 
should be regarded as the chief actuating motive to at- 
tention. The too frequent use of such incitements as 
praise, emulation, rewards,etc., demoralizes the character 
by bringing the selfish feelings too often into exercise. 
These motives tend to foster vanity, pride, envy, and 
other selfish emotions. 

Care should be tnken that tlie attention of the children 
is not withdrawn from the lessons by any extraneous 
noise, by the presence of too many visitors, or by any 
other cause. To secure these conditions, the school- 
room should be in a quiet spot, and its fittings should be 
such as to place the teacher in the most favorable posi- 
tion with respect to his pupils. Sometimes schools are 
built beneath railways, over livery stables and work- 
shops, and even underneath burial grounds; how can 
the founders of such schools expect their master to teach 
efficiently ? 

These remarkable laws of our physical and moral 



The Principles upo?i ivhich School Routines are lased. 

1. The subjects of the routine should be specially 
adapted to the capacities of the children in each class. 

2. The whole, or absolute time, devoted to any partic- 
ular subject should be in proportion to its relative im- 
portance and its adaptation to the minds of the children 
m the particular class. 

3. The period given continuously to any subject 
should be longer or shorter, accordingly as the subject 
is less or more fatiguing to the minds of the pupils. 

4. The order of succession of the subjects of the 
routine should have a special regard to the faculties that 
are brought into activity by those subjects. 



110 rHILObOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

No two lessons should come in succession Nvhicli exer- 
cise the same faculties: thus, for example, it would be 
erroneous to have a lesson on arithmetic immediately 
after a lesson on algebra, or a lesson on history after a 
lesson on the Scriptures. The subjects which follow 
each other in the order of succession should not only ex- 
ercise different faculties, but there should be a variety in 
the form and kind of the exercises themselves: thus, for 
example, arithmetic may be taught after grammar, or 
after history; and writing, or reading, or music, may be 
taught after arithmetic. 

5. In a w^ell organized school, the routines of the re- 
spective classes will be framed to suit one another, so 
that the work going on in one class may not interfere 
or jar with the work going on in the adjacent classes. 
Thus, while a lesson Avhich is necessarily associated with 
a certain amount of noise is being given to one class, 
the adjacent classes should have lessons given to them 
which are accompanied with coraj^arative silence; for 
example, while a reading lesson is being given to one 
class, a writing or a di awing lesson may at the same 
time be given to the adjacent classes. 

AVith a due attention to these principles in the con- 
struction of routines, a large school may be maintained 
in an harmonious condition of activity and progress, 
without any unnecessary noise or confusion. 

It is desirable that we should here make a few addi- 
tional observations relative to the subject of 

First or PreUminary Lessons. 

First lessons should embrace the prominent features 
of the subject without entering into its details, — they 
should be comprehensive without being profound. 
Children like to disport themselves in the stream of 
knowledge, without wishing to be plunged into its 
depths. The knowledge conveyed to children must at 
tirst be only superficial; like little butterflies in the sun- 
shine, they like to taste the sweets of every flower. We 
assert, in spite of the frown which we imagine to be 



PRELrMIXARY LESSONS. Ill 

gathering on the brow of tlie so-cilled methodical 
teacher, that, with little children, true teaching must 
BE SUPERFICIAL TEACHING. But it does not follow frOHl 
this that a true teacher is a superficial teacher; he must 
have great skill and judgment, united with a comprehen- 
sive knowledge of the subject-matter of instruction, in 
order that he may be able to select from the whole mass 
of knowledge tlie parts whicli are best calculated to 
interest his pupils, and at the same time to lay the foun- 
dation of a higher and subsequent course of instruction. 

It is important that we should make a distinction 
between the method by which the master actually 
teaches, and the mental process by which he arrives at 
the principles which should be followed in that method. 
While he gives a lesson to his pupils by the method of 
synthesis, the arrangements of the parts, &c., of that 
lesson must be the result of analysis. 

But in our lirst lessons to little children, there must be 
a great deal of desultory teaching. Their appetite for 
new facts or novelties is so great that they cannot 
dwell long upon each. The world to them is full of 
wonders, and nothincj gives them more pleasure than to 
witness these wonders. Their instincts lead them to 
expect that there is much that is wonderful in the works 
of nature, as well as of art. Their Creator, as we before 
observed, has placed them in a world where everything 
tends to develop and elevate their faculties. There is 
not a greater harmony subsisting between the mind of 
the musician and the tones of his instrument than there 
exists between the soul of the child and the constitution 
of external nature, — the one has been made for the other. 
The intelligent instructor will not fail to turn to account 
this LOVE OF THE w^oNDERFUL. A child looks through 
a telescope: how wonderful to him is the sight, — he sees 
the far distant towers and trees as plainly as if they Avere 
close before him! Do not mar the impressions thus pro- 
duced upon his mind,by attempting to explain the causes, 
— let these impressions remain as facts of science, which 
he will afterwards understand; he knows enough if he 
is told that a telescope is made of certain round-shaped 



112 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 

pieces of glass put into a tube; no disparagement to his 
intellect, if he does not know anything further about the 
cause of the effects. A child expects, from the very 
constitution of his nature, to see many things which he 
cannot comprehend; but effects and facts he can appre- 
ciate, and that is enough for him at the first stage of bis 
instruction. Such facts are seeds which time will cause 
to germinate and ripen. Show a child the appearance 
of a drop of stagnant water through a microscope! How 
wonderful to him is the sight! That little drop is teem- 
ing with animal life! In like manner, many other won- 
derful facts in connection with natural and experimental 
philosophy may be taught to the child. 

Our instructions should often assume the form of nar- 
ratives; for children feel a peculiar pleasure in hearing 
stories about animals, or about the lives of little children 
like themselves, or about the adventures of remarkable 
men. A well-told story may not only convey much 
valuable knowledge to a child, but may also inculcate 
many practical principles of action. 

Religion should be taught, to a great extent, in the 
same way: Newton, who uncovered his head when the 
name of God. was uttered, would have taught religion to 
children without giving expression to a word. Vital 
religion, says Richter, grows not by the doctrines of 
the Bible so much as by its narratives; the best Chris- 
tian doctrine is the life of Christ, and after that the 
sufferings and deaths of his followers. 

Instruction should, as far as possible, he associated with amuse- 
ment; in the hands of good teachers, toys, games, and 
pictures will become important instruments of intellec- 
tual culture. This subject naturally leads us to say a 
few words respecting 

The In/ant School System. 

In the Infant school, instrttction should never be sep- 
arated from amusement and enjoyment. The acquisi- 
tion of knowledge must be pursued as an amusement, 
and even the learning to read should have its pleasant 



INFANT SCHOOL SYSTEM. 113 

aspociatioiiR. The great object of the infant school teacher 
should be to cultivate the faculties of the children by 
gratifying their virtuous instincts. It is, however, much 
to be regretted that many infant school teachers have 
attempted to introduce graver subjects of instruction; 
better let a child of four or five years of age romp and 
play in the fields, than allow him to be cooped up for 
the purpose of committing some dull task to memory. 

Children at their games are learning; — they are insensibly 
becoming acquainted with themselves, with the charac- 
ters of their playfellows, and with the properties and 
uses of external things. Children teach one another, 
not only formally and directly, but also unconsciously 
and indirectly. One boy shows another boy how to 
make duck and drake upon the water, — how to fly a 
kite, — how to construct a sling, or a pop-gun, or a whis- 
tle, or a variety of other infantine pieces of apparatus. 
And we consider that one of the most essential, probably 
one of the most indispensable, fornjs of juvenile instruc- 
tion is THE BOY TEACHING THE BOY; the gravity of man- 
hood often breaks the enchantment with which infantine 
knowledge is invested. 

Our instructions should have a constant regard to- 
health, physical development, and enjoyment. Children 
are hsppy little things, — they have no regret for the 
past, no care for the present, and no fear for the future, — 
they are in the spring time of their existence ; the present 
is all enjoyment, and hope sheds an enchanting halo over 
the days that are to come. Who does not feel sad when 
he reflects that these joyous days are gone for ever? 
Look at the early spring birds as they skip and fly from 
twig to twig, — up higher and higher still among the green 
branches, — in the fullness of their joy, they chatter to 
each other and fill the woods with song, — beautiful little 
creatures! you remind me of happy, playful childhood, — 
your joys are as brilliant as they are fleeting. Ruthless 
man! cast no shadow over this sunny period of the 
children's existence! let them enjoy the bliss of this 
transient period, as their God has ordained, — let them 
frisk and play, — they are doing more for themselves than 



114 PHILOSOPHY or EDUCATION. 

you can do for them; for wbile they seek their enjoyment 
as an end^ the Creator has ordained that this desire for 
enjoyment shall be the means of developini^ their physical, 
intellectual, and moral faculties: they are thus uncon- 
sciously working out the end of their creation with far 
more certainty than if they were fettered by the leading 
strings of a nursery maid, or placed under the stern 
supervision of a rigid pedagogue. 

This leads us further to observe that we should en- 
deavor to 

Avoid, as far as possible, the Imposition of Tasks. 

Nothing should be rendered a task which can be as 
well or better taught by actual teaching on the part of 
the master, or which may be acquired by a repetition of 
voluntary efforts on the part of the pupil. The task 
SYSTEM invests learning with unpleasant associations, and 
renders the acquisition of knowledge a painful and soul- 
debasing infliction, instead of a healthful and invigorat- 
ing exercise for the faculties. These inflicti<ms are re- 
membered by us to the latest hour of our existence. On 
this subject Locke observes: " None of the things they 
are to learn should ever be made a burden to them, or 
imposed on them as a task. Whatever is so proposed, 
presently becomes irksome: the mind takes an aversion 
to it, though before it were a thing of delight or indif- 
ference. Let a child be but ordered to wnip his top at a 
certain time of the day, whether he has or has not a 
mind to it; let this be but required of him as a task, 
wherein he must spend so many hours morning and 
afternoon, and see whether he will not soon be weary 
of any play at this rate. Is it not so with grown men? 
"What they do cheerfully of themselves, do they not 
presently grow sick of, and can no more endure, as soon 
as they find it is expected of them as a task? Children 
have as much a mind to show that they are free, that 
their own good actions come from themselves, that they 
are absolute and independent as any of the proudest of 
you grown men, think of them as you please." 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 115 

Let us now consider the subject of 

School Liscipline. 

We have stated, as a corollary to our general axiom, 
that"^ teacher should govern his pupils by the principle 
of love rather thin that of fear. 

The great ruling principle in a school should he love. As a 
first great step to the establishment of discipline, the 
master should really love his pupils. Love them! Can 
the genteel, well-dressed teacher love those little rag- 
ged, vagabond-looking boys, gathered from all the 
filthy streets and alleys of this crowded city ? Love 
them! Why not ? The most dirty of them all has an 
immortal and accountable soul, capable of comprehend- 
ing the works of his Creator. Love them! The Chris- 
tian teacher must love them, — Jesus died for them, not 
less than for the offspring of the rich; and it was re- 
spectinsf such children that He said, " Suffer little 
children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven." Now, as love always 
begets love, if the master really loves his pupils, they 
in return will love him. But if they love their master, 
they will also endeavor to please him, and to avoid 
doing anything which is calculated to give him pain. 
In I his way the master's will becomes the rctle of the 
school; and as children necessarily imitate those whom 
they love and respect, the master's character becomes 
the L4.W of the school. Even some of our domesticated 
animals are best governed by kindness. In the govero- 
ment of a school, the greatest of all ends is to lead the 
children to love what is good and hate what is evil, — to 
follow virtue and shun vice. 

The principle of love should pervade the whole school, 
and the teacher should embrace every opportunity for 
cultivating the benevolent affections of the children by 
acts of kindness and practical lessons of love. Love, 
like the light of heaven, irradiates and beautifies what- 
ever it tcmches; fear, like darkness, invests everything 
with gloom. Love one another is the precept of the 



116 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

Great Teacher. Love is the most powerful principle in 
our nature, — it reipjns in heaven, for God is love, — it 
would change hell into heaven, and earth into a prime- 
val paradise. If this principle were fully developed in 
a school, the child would perform his duty for the love 
of it, and not from the fear of punishment or the hope 
of reward. / 

Fear should never he a ruling principle in a school. No 
school can be in a healthy condition where the children 
are governed mainly by the fear of punishment. Fear 
is an enfeebling passion, — it paralyzes the intellect, 
— it makes boys deceitful, slavish, and hypocritical, — 
it is the last and lowest moiive which can actuate a 
human being for good. The prison and the gallows are 
made to frighten wretches, sunk to the lowest depths 
of moral degradation, from the commission of ciime. 
Punishments may check the progress of vice, but they 
cannot foster the principle of virtue. Capital punish- 
ments, especially when they are numerous and unmer- 
ited, betoken a disastrous condition of a state — they are 
frequently the hideous forerunners of anarchy, or the 
fearful epilogues of some national tragedy. So, in like 
manner, the prevalence of punishments, or a slavish 
dread of the master, in a school, is a sure indication of 
mismanagement and instability. That unnatural still- 
ness in a school, which proceeds from fear, is like the 
deceitful calm which presages the outbreak of the tem- 
pest; without the warning of a moment, the pent-up 
passions may burst away the barriers by which they are 
restrained. 

Many teachers, especially of the old school, have a^ 
unfortunate love of despotic authority, — their birch is 
their sceptre, and their antiquated stool is their throne. 
This mischievous propensity, no doubt, in a great meas- 
ure proceeds from the circumstance that it is easier to 
eommand than to persuade^ and that it is less troublesome 
to maintain order in a school by the terror of the, rod 
than by the force of reason and moral suasion. But if 
teachers would give only half the attention to the preven- 
tion of faults that they at present give to the punishment of 



THOROUGH TEACHING INDISPEN-SABLE. 117 

them, the labor of teaching would not only be rendered 
more pleasant, but also, in the long run, more easy. As 
pievention is always better than cure, so we should 
especially look to the causes of disorder, and the best 
means of avoiding them. The course of a stream u best 
changed by cutting off the fountain: in like manner the 
current of disorder is most effectually stayed by drying 
up its sources. Harsh modes of discipline are necessarily 
associated with unnatural modes of instruction. 

If kindness, moral suasion, and the inculcation of re- 
ligious principle fail in reclaiming a boy, then as a last 
hope the master must of necessity have recourse to pun- 
ishment; but even in the act of punishment, the master 
should show that he is actuated by an earnest love for 
the transgressor. As crimes, in most cases, bring their 
own punishment, so youthful offenders may be often left 
to correct themselves, after having suffered the c mse- 
quences of their faults. The public opinion of a school, 
when properly developed, is also a great check to the 
commission of (;rime, as well as an important aid in the 
cultivation of habits of virtue. 

The formal rules of a school should be few and well 
chosen, and their observance should always be promptly 
enforced. A teacher should never magnify a fault into 
a crime, or allow the punishment to exceed the offence. 
As the possession of natural gifts does not merit reward, 
so the want of thetn cannot deserve punishment. Talents 
should not always be the subject ot commendation, or 
dullness the object of censure; for a boy may be dull in 
spite of his application, while another may possess talents 
without industry. 

XV. Evprif suhject should he taught thoroughly^ at least as far 
as the nature of the suhject and the capahilities of the pupilt 
will allow. They should learn nothing which they may have 
afterwards to unlearn. 

Strictly speaking, this general principle should have 
formed a corollary to our twelfth axiom; but with the 
view of guarding against misapprehension, we here give 



118 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

it is as a distinct subject of discussion. No principle of 
education has been more abused than this; its specious 
name gives currency to a false coinage. 

Periect knowledge is only a relative term, for, abso- 
lutely considered, we can never know anything perfectly; 
however, we may aim at perfection, although we may 
not hope to reach it. By teaching a subject thoroughly, 
therefore, w^e smiply mean that the information which 
we communicate to our pupils should be complete and 
exact, as far as it extends, and that we should not rest 
satisfied until it is fixed in their minds; at the came 
time, we should not attempt to push our instruction 
beyond their capabilities, nor deceive <»urselves with 
the idea that we have taught anything thoroughly, 
which hMS been merely learnt by rote. The most im- 
perfect and fruitless kind of teaching is that where the 
master attempts to convey a perfect knowledge of all 
the parts of a -ubject, before the faculties of his pupils 
are prepared for grasping such an amount of knowledge. 
A little knowledge, fully understood and thoroughly 
digested, creates intellectual power. The amount of 
knowledge fixed in the mind is not of so much account 
as the ideas which are evolved by the intellectual pro- 
cess of elaboration. 

To teach a subject thoro uglily, we should tea<h it from 
fads and prmciples, and not from formulae and rules; 
the subject should he learnt gradualy, and its varied 
a^pects should be ailo\Aedto unfdd themselves, as the 
intellect of the le.irner becomes more and more ripened 
and developed. If we wish to rear a lofty structure, 
we should look well tu the foundations, and the super- 
structure should be built up gradually, and all its parts 
be allowed to become duly eonsoli<laied by time. We 
should not aim too much at immediate results, or at- 
tempt to crowd the labor of years into a single day. 
If we denjand too much at once of our pupils, we are 
almopt sure to r* ceive from them much less than we 
might reasonably claim. Whatever a teacher may re- 
quire his pupils to do, he should see that the thing is 
done with a suitable degree of finish and exactness; at 



REPRODUCTION OF LESSONS. 119 

the same time, he should bear in mind that the power to 
do a thing perfectly can only be acquired by repeated 
efforts. As no man ever yet became learned in any sub- 
ject by reading one book upon it, so the teacher should 
Dot expect his pupils to learn any department of a sub- 
ject th(»roufhly, until he has directed their minds to it 
again and again, giving them at each recurrence more 
and njore enlarged view^ of it. Owing to the insepara- 
ble connection subsisting between the different branches 
of a subject, our knowledge of it must be comprehen- 
sive before it can became exact in all its details, — the 
outline of the subject must be first rough hewn before 
the delicate touches of finish can be applied to it. Far- 
aday, it is said, began the study of chemistry by read- 
ing Blair's catechism; and Newton's first book of 
mathematics was Barrow's easy course of geometry. 

One of the best means of teaching a subject thor- 
oughly is the 

Reproduction of Lessons. 

The ideas which we convey to a child are of little 
importance, compared with the benefits arising from 
the vigorous exercise of his powers in reproducing, 
arranging, or combining these ideas. The knowledge 
which we convey to our pupils is the ore thrown into 
the crucible; but the knowledge which we draw from 
them is the gold after it has been elaborated and refined, 

Reading, says Bacon, makes a full man, conversation 
a ready man, and writing an exact man. In order to 
give children a readiness of expression, they should be 
accustomed to relate, in their own language, whatever 
they may have seen, read, or heard; this will also in- 
duce habits of attention and reflection, and will show 
them how the ideas of others may really become their 
own. This may be made one of our first lessons in 
language. But one of the highest forms of instruction, 
in an elementary school, is to require the pupils to re- 
produce, in writing^ the lessons which may have been 
read by themselves in a class book, or which may have 
been given to them orally by the master. This exer- 



120 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

cise not only thoroughly fixes the subject in the 
mind of the pupil, but, if properly carried out, forms, at 
the same time, one of the best lessons in spelling, pen- 
manship, and composition. With the view of su-^taining 
a proper tone of mental activity, dispatch, not less taan 
accuracy, should be looked to in these exercises. 

In order to teach general principles thoroughly, we 
should give 

Examples and Applications. 

Children, even at an early age, instinctively ask us — 
What use is that thing ? Let us see it in nature. Their 
minds cannot sufficiently grasp a general proposition 
apart from the things to which it applies. This is 
especially true in relation to all subjects of calculation 
and science; here the c! ild readily understands the 
example or the fact, when he has not the slightest com- 
prehension of the rule or the law. In morals, too, the 
child will readily understand the nntuie of stealing 
from the narrative of some juvenile culprit, while he 
would be perfectly mystified by some grave and dog- 
matic disquisition on the principle of honesty. Gener- 
ally speaking, the most talented boys in a school will 
not give an earnest attention to a subject until they 
have been shown its utility, that is, until they have been 
shown some of its applications; such boys will not take 
everything on the mere authority of their master, espe- 
cially if the thing is within the range of their compre- 
hension, — they must see and understand the matter for 
themselves. 

Without underratmg or evading the difficulties of the subject^ 
our explanations should he clear and simple. We should avoid a 
slavish use of text-books. 

The teaclier should constantly bear in mind that 
what is perfectly easy to him may be really very dif- 
ficult to his pupils; so that, after all he may have done 
to render a subject clear and simple, his pupils may 
find it difficult enough for their comprehension. It is a 
mistake, therefore, for a teacher to tell his pupils that 
he has made a subject perfectly easy,thereby intimating 
that he neither appreciates their efforts,not expects them 



ADVANTAGES OF SIMPLICITY IN TEACHING. 121 

to apply themselves viojorously to the subject. If a 
teacher cannot give a clear exposition of a subject, he 
bad better leave the matter in the hands of his pupils; 
a complex or learned exposition is often productive of 
irremediable evils. The system of JacoLot, which 
requires the pupil to learn every subject, as well as 
every branch of a subjject, thoroughly before he leaves 
it, has been carried to a ridiculous extreme by many 
educators. According to them, the easiest way of learn- 
ing a subject is not the best way; for the main business of 
education is not so much to infuse knowledge as to 
develop power. The fallacy of this system is at once 
shown by the fact that it does not answer the end 
which it professes to accomplish; for we hold it to be a 
well established law of our intellectual nature, that the 
faculties are best cultivated by those exercises which are 
apportioned to their strength, and not by straining them 
to their utmost tension. If a subject, or any particular 
department of a subject, is taught thoroughly, that is, 
from facts and principles, and not by rote, it is impos- 
sible to simplify it too much, or to impair its efficiency as 
an instrument of intellectual culture. The good teacher 
will constantly endeavor to lead his pupils in the royal 
ROAD to LEARNING, — that is to Say, he will try to make 
the road easy and pleasant, — he will cut off its tortuous 
windings, macadamize it, and remove all unnecessary 
obstacles, — he will not create difficulties for the mere 
sake of trying the strength of his pupils, nor tax their 
endurance for the purpose of inculcating patience and 
humility. 1 he little, pedantic mind delights itself in tri- 
fling with difficulties, and in making difficulties of trifles; 
the superior mind invests every subject with its own 
comprehensiveness and logical simplicity. A good 
teacher never darkens counsel by words, or obtrudes the 
intricacies of a subject for the purpose of exhibiting his 
own power. 

Why has mathematics hitherto been considered too diffi- 
cult for ordinary boys to understand? Simply because 
some Pons Asmorum is thrown in their way at an early- 
stage of their progress, — because abstract propositions are 



122 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

taught apart from their application; and because in place 
of having to learn the simple fundamental laws of quan- 
tity , the hoy is required to deal with symbols involved with 
roots upon roots and operations within operations. You 
may as well teach boys history from Lingard, grammar 
from Ilorne Tooke, or drawing from the cartoons of 
Raphael, as attempt to teach them geometry frona Euclid^ 
or arithmetic and algebra from some learned work which 
professes to be at once a class book of the university 
and a manual of the school-room. 

No man will leach a subject thoroughly if he restricts 
himself to the use of a particular class book, more espe- 
cially if it be a so-called perfect class book,for a complete 
work upon any subject is certainly not the best book to 
begin with. Alas for education! if ever the examinations 
of our schools and training colleges should be based upon 
an invariable order of text-books. Under such an ar- 
rangement, education woilld become a recognized system 
of cramming,— a prescribed amount of knowledge 
would be got up, no matter by what means, provided 
the end should be attained. We hold that examina- 
tions should test the development of power, rather than 
the acquisition of knovvle<lge; but such a plan of exam- 
ination would ignore this development. The mind filled 
with knowledge in this way has been compared to a 
well-filled granary, but bears no resemblance to the 
fruitful field which multiplies a hundred-fold that which 
is thrown upon it. 

This overweening attachment to text-books, and to a 
80-called thorough education, leads to the neglect of gen- 
eral knowledge as well as of the development of power. 
Its tendency is to confine general education wnthin very 
narrow limits, and t(> restrict elementary instruction to 
the mere rudiments of knowledge.* It gives us the dry 
bones of the body of education, without the flesh, and the 
warm blood, and the vital principle — the principle of 
intellectual and moral life, ot growth and development, 
Inbtead of cramming his pupils with all the minute 

* In Ibis respect we are certainly much in advance of our 
American brethren. 



SLAVISH USE OF TEXT-BOOKS TO BE AVOIDED. 123 

details of a subject, the truly methodical teacher will 
rather seek to develop in them a power of working out 
the details of a subject for themselves; he has a farsub- 
limer object in view than the slavish adhesion to the cut 
and dried forms of a textbook; hp may not^ teach any 
particular science thoroughly in all its technical details, 
but he seeks to effect a far higher end, to develop in them 
that power which may, at some future period, not merely 
enable thtm to know a science, but to create a science. 
The drudgery connected with the details ol some depart- 
ments of knowle<lge often exercises an unhealthy influ- 
ence upon ihe mind; for example, the comiDitting to 
memory long catalogues of words^ the exact dates ot his- 
torical events, the lengths and breadths of countries,etc., 
tends to stultify the intellect of the pupil and to withdraw 
him from the contemplation of more interesting facts and 
principles. 

It must, however, be admitted that if a boy is to remain 
only a short period at school, he had better learn a little 
well than a great deal badly: the first rudiments of 
knowledge, comj^rising reading, writing, and arithmetic, 
should above all things be fairly learnt by him before 
he leaves school; lor a knowledge of these first rudi- 
ments becomes to him the great instrument of future 
development and acquisition. 

On the injudicious use of books, Woodbridge ob- 
serves; — 

'*lt is of the highest importance to conduct the pupil 
in such a manner that he will not afterwards be contented 
without a thorough knowledge of everything within his 
reach. It is in this view important not to allow him to 
devote too much of his time to mere reading. It is easy 
to read and to amuse ourselves in this manner without 
understanding thoroughly what we read. There is a 
constant inducement to seek that occupation and interest 
in running o^er a number of books which should be 
found in examining deeply every subject which is pie- 
Bt-nted. Such reading is the most certain means of 
forming superficial students and superficial thinkers. It 
produces a disgust for study, and rendtrs the pupil in- 



124 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

capable of that continued and fixed attention which is 
necessary to success in more than one branch of knowl- 
ed.aje; often in the course of reading the pupil learns 
superficially those facts which form the most interesting 
parts of his lessons, his interest in them is destroyed, 
and he no longer pays the attention necessary to learn 
the ficts he has anticipated in connection with the prin- 
ciples they illustrate. If the books are not written in the 
spirit of thy method adopted by the teacher, as is fre- 
quently the case, they will produce confusion in his mind 
and impair his confidence in his guide: Fellenberg there- 
fore believes that this taste should not be too much 
encouraged, and thai, in a perfect system of education, 
there should in fact be little time allowed for reading. 
There should be such ample provision both for instruc- 
tion and amusement, adapted to the capacity and taste 
of the pupil, that it shall be (to a great extent) unneces- 
sary either for the one or the other." 

One of the most obvious, and probably one of the 
most simple means of teaching a subject thoroughly, ia 
the , 

Repetition or Reiteration of Lessons. 

Repetition is sai<l to be the main-spring of instruction; 
but we have reason to believe tnat the principle has sel- 
dom been applied, in elementary schools, in its most 
legitimate and most advantageous form. On this sub- 
ject Miss Edge worth observes: — 

" Repetition makes all operations easy; even the fa- 
tigue of thinking diminishes by habit. That we may 
not} increase the labor of the mind unseasonably, we 
should watch for the moment when habit has made one 
lesson easy, and then we may go forward a new step. In 
teaching the children at the House of Industry at Munich 
to spin, Count Ramford wisely ordered that they should 
be made perfect in one motion before any other was 
shown to them: at first they were allowed only to move 
the wheel by the treadle with their feet; when, after 
sufficient oractice, the foot became perfect in its lesson, 
the hands were set to work, and the children were al- 



REPETITION OF LifeSONS. 125 

lowed to begin to spin with coarse materials. It is said 
these children make remarkably good spinners. Madame 
de Genlis applied the same principle in teaching Adela to 
play upon the harp. 

" In the first attempts to learn any new bodily exercise, 
as fencing or dancing, persons are not certain what 
muscles tbey must use, and what may be left at rest: 
they generally employ those of which they have the most 
ready command,but these may not already be the muscles 
which are really wanted in the new operation. The 
simplest thing appears difficult till by practice we have 
associated the various slight motions which ought to be 
combined ; we feel that from want of use our motions are 
not obedient to our wili, and to supply this defect we 
exert more strength and activity than is requisite. ' It 
does not require strength; you need not use so much 
force; you need not take so much pains,' we frequently 
iay to those who are making the first painful, awkward 
attempts at some simple operation. Can anything appear 
more easy than knitting, when we look at the dextrous 
rapid motions of an experienced practitioner ? But let a 
gentleman take up a lady's knittina needles,and knitting 
appears to him, and to all the spectators, one of the most 
laborious and difficult operations imaginable. A lady 
who is learning to work with a tambour needle puts her 
head down close to the tambour frame, the color comes 
into her face, she strains her eyes, all her faculties are 
exerted,and perhaps she works at the rate of three links 
a minute. A week afterwards, probably, practice has 
made the work perfectly easy; the same lady goes rap- 
idly on with her work; she can talk and laugh, and 
perhaps even think, whilst she works; she has now dis- 
covered that a number of the motions,and a great portion 
of that action which she thought necessary to this mighty 
operation, may be advantageously spared. 

" In a similar manner,in the exercise of our minds upon 
•objects ihat are new to us, we generally exert more 
effort thanis necessary or serviceable,and we consequently 
aoon fatigue ourselves without any advantage. Children, 
to whom many subjects are new, are often fatigued by 



126 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

these overstrained and misplaced efforts. In these cir- 
cumstances a tutor bbould relieve the attention by intro- 
ducing indifferent subjects of conversation; he can, by 
showing no anxiety hijnself,eitht'r in his manner or coun- 
tenance, relieve his pupils from any apprehension of his 
displeasure, or of his contempt; he can represent that 
the object before them is not a matter of life and death; 
that if the child does not succeed in the first trials he will 
not be disgraced in the opinion of any of his friends; that 
by perseverance he will certainly conquer the difficulty; 
that it is of little consequence whether he understand the 
thinsj in question to-day or to-morrow: these consider- 
ations will calm the over-atixious pupil's agitation, and 
"whether he succeed or not, he will not suffer such a 
degree of pain as to disgast him in his first attempts." 

When a lesson is repeated, it should be done with the 
view of making the child thoroughly acquainted wdth the 
subject-matter; but repetitions are given chiefly to load 
the memory with words, without any regard to the en- 
lightenment of the reason. If the pupils do not thorough- 
ly comprehend a lesson which has been given to them, 
the teacher, in going over it for the second time, should 
adopt some fresh modes of illustrating or demonstrating, 
as the case may require, the leading i<leas contained in it. 
By this means the monot' my of repetition will be avoided, 
and a new aspect will be given to the subject, which will 
be highly instructive to their minds. 

JVliss Edge worth then goes on to observe: — 
" We have said that a preceptor, in his first lessons on 
any new subject,raust submit to the drudgery of repeating 
his terms and his reasoning, until these are suflSciently 
familiar to his pupils. He raust,however,proportiou the 
number of his repetitions to the temper and habits of his 
pupils, else he will weary instead of strengthen the at- 
tention When a thing is clear, let him never try to 
make it clearer; when a thing is understood, not a word 
more of exemplification should be added. To mark pre- 
cisely the moment when the pupil understands what is 
said, —the moment when he is master of the necessary 
ideas, and, consequently, the moment when repetition 



THE CULTIVATION OF HABITS. 127 

should cease, is, perhaps, the most difficult thing in the 
art of teaching. The countenance, the eye, the voice 
and manner of the pupil mark this instant to an ob- 
servant preceptor; but a preceptor who is absorbed in 
his own ideas, will never think of looking in his pupil's 
face; he will go (m with his routine of explanation, 
whilst his once lively, attentive pupil exhibits opposite 
to him the picture of stupefied fatigue. Quick, intelligent 
children, who have frequently found tliat lessons are 
reiterated by a patient but injudicious tutor,will learn a 
careless mode of listening at intervals; they will say to 
themselves, ' Oh, I shall hear this again! ' And it* any 
stray thought comes across their minds, they will not 
scruple to amuse themselves, and will afterwar Is ask for 
a repetition of the words or ideas which they missed 
during the excursion of fancy. When they hear the 
warning advertisement of ' certainly for the last time this 
season,' they will deem it time enough to attend to the 
performance. To cure them of this presumption in favor 
of our patience, and of their own superlative quickness, 
we should press that quickness to its utmost speed. 
Whenever we call for their attention, let it be on sub- 
jects highly interesting or amusing, and let us give them 
but just sufficient time with their fullest exertion to 
catch our words and id^as. As these quick gentlemen 
are proud of their rapidity of apprehension, this method 
will probably succeed; they will dread the disgrace of 
not understaiding what is said, and they will feel that 
they cannot understand ualess they exert prompt, vig- 
orous, and unremitted attention." 

XVI. In all our instruction we should attend to the cultivation 
of habits. 

Habits, according to the old adage, become a second 
nature — they rendir labor easy, ami the performance of 
4luty a pleasure, — they fortify us against the contagion 
«f bad example, and shield us Irom the force of sudden 
temptation. Intellectual habits are not less essential to 
the man than those habits which have a relation to 



128 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

conduct: thus, for instance, the habit of working out 
results from fir^t principles and not by rules, exercises 
a most salutary influence in the development of the 
faculties of children. 

Habits of thought, as will as habits of conduct, can 
be established only by time, repetition, and practice. 
Useful habits are formed gradually,— a little thing 
done well leads the way to the performance of a greater; 
and what appears hard to-day may, by repeated trials, 
become perfectly easy to-morrow. As right habits can 
only be formed gradually, we should never exact too 
much from a child. Habits of attention, reflection, 
application, industry, virtue, and piety are better in- 
culcated by example than by precept; for children are 
peculiarly imitative beings; if the parents of a child, 
for instance, are always employed, the child cannot lung 
remain idle, — he will boon acquire the habit of industry; 
and so on to other cases. "Well-timed practical exam- 
ples or illustrations will have far more influence in 
developing the character of children than abstract rules 
or precepts. And as no proposition should be given 
without a proof, so no duty should be exacted without 
a reason. 

"Virtues and vices (says Locke) can by no words be 
BO plainly set before their understandings as the actions 
of other men will show them, when you direct their 
observation and bid them view this or that good or bad 
quality in their practice. And the beauty and un- 
comeliness of many things, in good or ill breeding, will 
be better learnt, and make deeper impressions on them, 
in tl.e ex'imples of others, than from any rule or instruc- 
tions that can be given about them. And what ill they 
either overlook or indulge in themselves, tbey cannot but 
dislike and be ashamed of when it is set before them in 
another. 

"And here give me leave to take notice of one thing 
I think a fault in the ordinary method of education; 
and that is, the charging of children's memories, upon 
all occasions, with rules and precepts which they often 
do not understand, and are constantly as soon forgotten 



LOCKE ON METHOD. 129 

as given. If it be some action yoii would have done,or 
done otherwise, whenever they forget or do it awk- 
wardly, make them do it over and ever again, till they 
are perfect: whereby you will get these two advantages. 
First, to see whether it be an action they can do, or is 
fit to be expected of them. For sometimes children are 
bid to do things which upon trial they are found not 
able to do; and had need to be taught and exercised in 
before they are required to do them. Secondly, an- 
other thing got by it will be this, that by repeating the 
same action, till it be grown habitual in them, the per- 
formance will not depend on memory, or rejection, the 
concomitant of prudence and age, and not of childhood: 
but will be natural in them. Thus, bowing to a gentle- 
man when he salutes him, and looking in his face when 
he speaks to him, is by constant use as natural to a 
well-bred man as breathing; it requires no thought, no 
reflection. Having this way cured in your child any 
fault, it is cured forever: and thus, one by one, you 
may weed them out all, and plant what habits you 
please. 

"I have seen parents so heap rules on their children 
that it was impossible for the poor little ones to remem- 
ber a tenth part of them, much less to observe them. 
However, they were either by words or blows corrected 
for the breach of those multiplied and often very imper- 
tinent precepts. Whence it naturally followed that the 
children minded not what was said to them; when it was 
evident to them that no attention they were capable 
of was sufficient to preserve them from transgression, 
and ihe rebukes which followed it. 

" Let therefore your rules to your son be as few as 
possible,and rather fewer than more than seem absolutely 
necessary. For if you burden him with many rules,one 
of these two things must necessarily follo\v,that either he 
must be very often punished, which v^ ill be of ill conse- 
quence,by making punishment too frequent and familiar; 
or else you must let the transgressions of some of your 
rules go unpunished, whereby they will of course grow 
contemptible, and yoar authority become cheap to him. 



130 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

Make but few laws, but see tbey be Avell observed, when 
once made. Few years require but few laws, au(l, as 
his age increases, when one rule is by practice well es- 
tablished, you may add another. 

"But pray remember children are not to be taught by 
rules; which will be always slipping uut of their memo- 
ries. What you think necessary for them to do, settle 
in thera by an indispensable practice, as often as the 
occasion returns; and if it be possible, fnake occasions. 
This will beget habits in them, which being once estab- 
lished, operate of themselves, easily and naturally, with- 
out the assistance of the memory. But here let me give 
two cautions. 

"1. The one is, that you keep them to the practice of 
what you would have grow into a habit in them,by kind 
words and gentle admonitions, rather as minding them 
of what they forget, than by harsh rebukes and chiding 
as if they were wilfully guilty. 

*' 2. Another thing you are to take care of is not to 
endeavor to settle too many habits at once, lest by a 
variety you confound them, and so perfect none. When 
constant custom has made any one thing easy and nat- 
ural to them, and they practise it without reflection, you 
may then go on to another. 

"This method of teaching children by a repeated 
practice, and the same action done over and over again, 
under the eye and direction of the tutor, till they have 
got the habit of doing it well, and not by relying on 
rules trusted to their memories, has so many advan- 
tages, which way soever we consider it, that I cannot 
but wonder (if ill customs could be wondej-ed at in any- 
thing) how it could possibly be so much neglected. I 
shall name one more that comes now in my way. By 
this method we shall see, whether what is required of 
him be adapted to his capacity, and any way suited to 
the child's natural genius a«id constitution: for that too 
must be considered in a right education." 



HABITS OF ATTENTION. 131' 

The habits of attention and concentration are the great main- 
springs of education. 

As we have already observed,the great secret in secur- 
ing the attention of children is to interest them; and the 
habit of attention is cultivated by keeping the faculty in 
a state of vigorous activity during the whole course of 
our instruction. The habits of iistlessness and inatten- 
tion are engendered by injudicious or inappropriate 
plans of teaching. The habit of directing the undivided 
force of the faculties to a given subject is the great 
main-spring of self-education. But this habit, in its 
fullest vigor, is rarely acquired in early life; notwith- 
standing, the teacher should be prepared to avail him- 
self of all the occasions most favorable for its cultiva- 
tion. The principle of emulation and a judicious system 
of rewards are two of our most powerful supplemental 
aids in the cultivation of this habit. 

The hahit of olservation should be speciallg cultivated. 

Object lessons are highly calculated to foster the habit 
of observation. Children should be accustomed to exam- 
ine, analyze, and inspect every object of interest around 
them: the flowers and minerals by the wayside, the ani- 
mals of the fields, the warblers of the forest, the various 
household utensils, etc., all present us with excellent 
subjects for exercising the observing faculties. The 
habit of observing the structures, nses, and properties 
of familiar things, prepares the mind for entering upon 
a higher course of scientific inquiry. 



132 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



Part II. 

ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND 
MORAL FACULTIES. 



CHAP. I. 

PRELIMINARY NOTIONS.— IMPORTANCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS IN 
RELATION TO TEACHING, ETC. 

No class of men require a knowledge of intellectual and 
moral philosophy more than teachers: self-knowledae is 
valuable to all, but it is especially valuable to thlm. 
Self-knowledge, in its fullest acceptation, requires that 
we should know ourselves in relation to the three states 
of our existence, — the past, the present, and the future: 
consciousness tells us what we are, remembrance informs 
us what we have been, and reason, by combining the facts 
of our past and present existence, enables us to antici- 
pate what we shall be. But self-knowledge, in this com- 
prehensive sense, is rarely found amongst teachers: we 
Beem to regard our minds as little as we do our watches, 
— we look at the dial plate, but heed not the internal 
machinery — the springs, the regulators, or the beautiful 
combinations of wheels within wheels by which the re- 
sults are produced. A man who is entrusted with the 
direction of a machine should surely be acquainted with 
the principles of its construction. Now the teacher has 
to regulate and develop the faculties of a human soul, 
— his mind has to act upon another mind so as to give 
a right tone and direction to its development. Here 
mind is the agent which acts, and mind is the object 
acted upon. The teacher should, therefore, study the 
philosophy of our intellectual and moral nature. 

The most wonderful work of God is the human soul, 



CULTIVATION OP THE PACULllES. 133 

for it has been created after His own image; and the 
laws which govern its action and development demand 
the most patient study. The highest of all intellectual 
efforts is that of the mind engaged in the study of itself, 
— the principle of thought engaged in the investigation 
of the laws and processes of thought, — the intellectual 
vision turned inwardly upon itself. Here we must arrest 
the current of thought, in order to determine the modes 
and conditions of its action and development. 

The child is the man in embryo: the child has the 
same faculties as the man, but they are in a different 
state of development. In order that a man may teach 
children, he should thoroughly sympathize with them, — 
he should realize their hj^bits of thought and action, 
peculiar tastes and modes of self-development; he should 
frequently, in imagination, conceive himself to be a little 
child, and recall to himself all that he thought and felt 
when he was a little child; so that he may be able to 
tell what effect any particular form of instruction or 
mode of training will have upon th.em. A teacher, 
therefore, should not only know himself as he is, but he 
should also look back to the early history of his own 
mind, and analyze the facts of this past experience with 
the view of determining the causes which had been most 
operative in stimulating the growth and development of 
his faculties. 

Let us for a moment glance at the panorama of our 
early years, with the view of realizing our thoughts and 
feelings relative to the educational influences which 
were brought to bear upon our own intellectual and 
moral development. This psychological inquiry will 
bring home to us the momentous fact that there is not a 
single act, not a single thought, of our past life, that has 
not had its influence in fixing our present intellectual 
and moral condition. What we are is but the last link 
in a long chain of sequences, extending from childhood 
to youth, from youth to manhood, from manhood to age; 
and what WE shall be will only be an extension of the 
links of this chain of sequences. 



134 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

A glance at our childhood and early youth. 

Let us in imagination live our lives over again, with 
the view of realizing the different stages of our intel- 
lectual and moral development, and of exposing the 
errors of certain systems of education. This will not be 
diflScult if we confine ourselves to a simple statement of 
facts, without refining too much upon the use of phrases, 
or mixing up our apprehensions with recondite theories 
relative to mental phenomena. 

We all remember how, in our early childhood, we 
loved whatever afforded us pleasure,and hated whatever 
gave us pain, — how we loved the beautiful and the good^ 
and dreaded what was ugly and bad, — what horror a 
butcher or a butcher's shop excited, and how visions of 
blood and cruelty haunted us in our dreams, — what 
pleasure we derived from every strange scene and every 
new toy, — how we dreaded our hard task-masters, and 
how delighted we were when we were permitted to 
acquire knowledge in our own way. 

We all remember how in our boyish days we made 
whistles and pop-guns, suckers and slings, — how in our 
games we mimicked the ways and doings of man in the 
great world, — how we loved to wander in the fields 
and pluck the flowers and listen to nature's wild music, 
— how we distinguished birds one from another, or 
different animals one from another, — how we loved 
to gaze upon the sea and the sky, or to penetrate the 
depths of the trackless forest, or to climb the rugged 
cliff, — how the contemplation of nature filled our 
little souls with ecstacy, and how we wondered if other 
people felt the same emotions that the words God, 
Eternity, Immensity, &c., excited in our minds, — how 
imagination conjured up fictitious scenes, and peopled 
them with the creations of our own brain, — how we 
hated the drudgery of tasks, because we could not 
understand them, and with what pleasure we turned 
from them to read stories of animals or talcs about 
children, — how readily we believed in everything that 
was told us, and how our religion intermingled itself 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. ,135 

with superstitious notions, — how we told ghost stories, 
in the long winter nights, to our playfellows sitting 
round the fire, — how we wished that our school days 
were over, that we might think and lead as our own 
instincts directed us, without being under the iron rule 
of hard masters, — with what pleasure we anticipated 
the approach of holidays and periods of festivities, and 
Low we looked to the luture, when we should be with- 
out pain or anxiety, and when we should enjoy the full 
exercise of our faculties. 

We all remember when our school days were over, 
and when we fairly commenced the process of self- 
development — with Avhat avidity we read books that 
suited our capacities and tastes, and what pleasure the 
exercise of our intellectual faculties afforded us, — how 
the dogmas of our school learning were forgotten or 
disregarded, — how we studied men and thi'jgs for our- 
eelves, and how our own taculiies and feelings became 
distinct objects of contemplation, — how our past joys 
and sorrows, thoughts and emotions, passed in review 
before us, and how hope and high resolve shed a halo 
over the future, and urged us on in the career of life. 

And now, when the fairy existence of early youth is 
past, what remains for our matured age ? The illusions 
of hope have melted away like the unsubstantial visions 
of the night, — life has lost its greatest charm, and the 
Btern realities of existence meet us on every side, — most 
of the gay friends of our childhood are in the cold 
grave, and the voices that once charmed us, as with the 
sweetest melody, are silent and still. What remains for 
us? Action! usefulness! and the prospect of meeting 
our lost friends in a better state of existence! 

This review of the facts of our past existence supplies 
us with valuable suggestions relative to the work of ele- 
mentary education. 

A cursor^/ view of our intellectual and moral faculties as regards 
their mode of development, 

Man 'is a thinking and responsible being; hence we 



136 PHILOSOPHY OP EDUCATION. 

speak of our intellectual and moral nature, — of the 
powers of intellect, which have respect to knowledge, 
and of the moral powers, which have respect to conduct. 
We think, feel, and act; we have thoughts and emo- 
tions, and we have also the power of controlling our 
thoughts and emotions. Hence our mental phenomena 
maybe divided into three class(>s: 1. Simple intellect, 
comprehendmg those faculties by which we perceive, 
remember, compare, conceive, imagine, and reason. 2. 
Emotions, usually called passions or affections; these 
may be either passive or active; passive emotions simply 
affect us with pleasure or pain; active emotions affect 
our conduct, and they may be either right or wrong, 
virtuous or vicious. 3. Over all these powers and emo- 
tions is placed the principle of self-control, — the volun- 
tary principle — the will, which constitutes man a 
voluntary being, and which, acting in conjunction with 
REASON and the power of conscience — that inherent 
instinctive sense of right :ind wrong — also constitutes 
him a moral anrl responsible agent. 

Let us now endeavor to trace the successive stages of 
our intellectual and moral development. 

External objects produce impressions upon our senses, 
which impressions we call sensations ; we become consciom 
of these sensations, and we perceive the objects which 
produce them; hence we regard sensation and perception 
as belonging to the first stage of our mental development. 
Sensation is the effect which external objects have upon 
our senses; perception is an act of the mind, and hence 
we speak of the faculty of perception,* But a sen- 



* Brown aud his followers object to the use of the word faculty 
or power as applied to these distinct acts of the mind; they coq- 
siderthat the use of such phrasuolojiy ascribes distinct functions 
to the mind, somewhat after the manner in which we ascribe dis- 
tinct senses to the body. Now we take the broad facts of mental 
phenomena, as they are received and understood by all; and by 
the word faculty, as here used, we simply mean a certain distinct 
mental act, or, it may be, a certain distinct state of the mind. 
Some very substantial reasons must be given in order to change 
the phraseology of a people. 



STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT. 13 1 

sation may take place without being followed by its 
corresponding perception; thus, for example, an object 
may be placed before our organs of vision without being 
perceived bv us; in fact we must give our attention to a 
thing before we can have a full perception of it; hence 
we recognize the existence of that vohmtary power of 
the mind which we call the faculty of attention. We 
remember past impressions and perceptions; hence we 
are said to possess the faculty of memory. We recall 
at our will past impressions and scenes, and conceive 
then to be, as it were, placed before us with all the 
vividness of the original impressions; hence we are said 
to possess the faculty of conception. By this faculty 
we make the idea — the conception — of an object a 
distinct subject of consciousness and contemplation. 
We not only remember and conceive, but we also com- 
pare the impressions of objects, whether present or 
absent, with each other, and thus distinguish them one 
from another, or form '.i judgment relative to their respec- 
tive qualities; hence we are said to possess the facul- 
ties of COMPARISON and of primitive judgment; these 
form the first elements of the process of reasoning. 
Things are perceived by us under certain relations of 
place, time, &q. ; we recollect them in the same order of 
place, time, &o. ; hence we are said to possess the fac- 
ulty of recollection; which is something more than sim- 
ple memory, for it involves the faculty of association". 
By the faculty of association certain written signs or 
sounds become suggestive of, or associated with, certain 
ideas. The name of a horse, for example, whether writ- 
ten or spoken, becomes associated with the conception 
or idea of a horse, so that the presence of the one sug- 
gests that of the other. The gift of language, or as we 
might say, the faculty of language, not less than 
reason or the moral sense, distinguishes man from the 
lower animals. By means of language, that wonderful 
symbol of thought, we hold communion with one an- 
other, — we record the results of our experience — our 
ideas, — and thus the life of a man, in a certain sense, is 
not bounded by his own individual term of existence,but 



138 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

embraces tile whole period of the past existence of his 
species. We imiiate the sonnds which we hear, and copy 
the forms which we see; hence we are said to possess 
the faculty of imitation. We not only believe in the 
facts which we derive from perception and observation, 
but we also readily accept the facts communicated to 
us by others; hence w^e are said to have an instinctive 
belief in testimony; hence that ren)arkable aptitude 
which children show for receiving instruction, nnd the 
unreasoning trust which they repose in the statements 
of their parents and teachers. This may be not inap- 
propriately called the faculty of leaening. 

Let us now trace some of the earliest developments of 
imagination, abstraction, and reason. 

We marine things to exist, and invest them with 
various imaginary qualities. With the aid of visible 
representations, we form an idea of absent objects and 
things, — a small picture enables us to realize the idea 
of a mountain stream, or of some beautiful natural 
scene; hence we are said to possess the faculty of Ide- 
ality, which is obviously nearly allied to that of imag- 
ination. 

Me observe the relation between events: — a stroke 
upon the table, for example, is followed by a sound; the 
stroke is recognized as the cause, and the sound as the 
effect; the stroke is repeated, and the same sound is 
produced, and we instinctively believe that the same 
efPect will always follow the operation of the same 
cause. 

We see a series of objects having the same color; — 
they may be different in form, taste, &c., but they have 
the same color: — we form a conception of that color, 
apart from the other properties of the bodies, — that is 
to say, we form an abstract idea of it. 

We see a lot of balls, — they may be different in 
color; some may be rough, otheis may be smooth, 
but they have all the same form — they are all balls; 
IV e realize a conception of this form apart from the 
other properties of the bodies. A particular figure 
formed by three straight lines, and therefore containing 



ABSTRACTION AND GENERALIZATION. 139 

three aiifiles, is called a triangle; "^ut we may draw 
another figure bounded by three straight lines, which 
fihall differ very much i'rom the first iu the absolute and 
the relative lengths of the sides; yet still we call this 
figure a triangle, for it is bounded by three sides and 
contains three angles: hence we form the abstract idea 
of a triaiigle, corresponding to the definition which 
limits or defines this species of form. And so on to 
other cases of geometrical form and magnitude. In 
like manner we arrive at a knowledge of the various 
properties of bodies. 

We see a lot of balls, — we count them by ones 
— they make up a certain number; but they may be 
grouped in different ways, and ihe total number will be 
made up of the number in tlie different groups put to- 
gether; thus, for example, if there are five balls, we may 
put them into two groups, one of which shall contain three 
balls and the other two; then we arrive at the fact that 
three balls and two balls make five balls; but we maj'^ 
count, in the same manner, with buttons, or with any 
other objects; hence we form the abstract conception of 
numbers and properties of numbers, withoi:t regard 
to the particular objects which represent them, whether 
they be balls, or buttons, or cubes, or anything else. 
The results, thus attained, expressed in language be- 
come established truths or propositions, and we remem- 
ber them as such. 

In all these cases we exercise the faculty of abstrac- 
tion, which at the same time involves those of classifica- 
tion and generalization. By the faculty of abstraction, 
therefore, we arrange objects into classes, genera, and 
gpecies. Thus we observe that some objects have 
certain common propeities, by which we distinguish 
them from other objects; hence we classify them and 
call them by some name indicative of the class: thus 
we soon distinguish between ahorse and a cow,&c. : hence 
also we generalize, that is to say, we take a comprehen- 
sive view of a multifarious collection of facts by select- 
ing one which is common to them all. 

Co-existent with this stage of intellectual develop- 



140 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

ment, certain appetites and passions exhibit themselves. 
The taste of a sweetmeat affords us pleasure, the 
taste of a drug is unpleasant; we love and desirh 
the one, while while we dislike and avoid the other. 
Some sensations and ideas are accompanied with pain, 
others with pleasure; we love the person that is kind 
to us, because his kindness affords us pleasure, and we 
HATE and FEAR the person that treats us with cruelty, 
because his cruelty gives us pain. 

The sentiment of taste — tlie sense of the sublime and 
beautiful — early develops itself. We admire a beau- 
tiful object, because the sight of it affords us pleasure, — 
the flowers with their varied forms, and colors and 
scents, — the green fields and woods, — the bright sun, 
lighting up the wide earth with life and joy, — the 
silver moon, as she sheds her soft and balmy light over 
the slumbering world, — the stars, as they twinkle in 
the depths of the azure canopy of uight, — all are beau- 
tiful to us — all are charming to us — because they all 
awaken within us the sentiments of love and admiration. 

But the contemplation of the sublime, not less than 
the beautiful, affords us pleasure: the snow-clad moun- 
tain, — the deep ravine, — the boundless expanse of field 
and forest, — the vast ocean as it swells and foams 
and responds to the moaning winds, — the rolling thun- 
der and the flashing lightning, — all are sublime — all 
fill our souls with the sentiruents of awe, veneration, 
and wonder, and impress us with the ideas of vastness, 
power, immensity, and infinitude. Above all, and over 
all, we adore and love the great God, who made the 
world and all its fullness, and enthroned Himself amid 
its riches and goodness. 

We love knowledge in all its forms, because its 
acquisition affords us pleasure. Not satisfied with 
what we already know, we seek to know more; hence 
that insatiable appetite for knowledge — that ceaseless 
cuRiosiTv, which is ever craving for knowledge, but is 
never satisfied, and which forms one of the most re- 
markable features of the infant mind. We love approba- 
tion, and the consciousness of mental power affords us 



THE MORAL SENSE. 141 

pleasure. We eagerly strive with our corapaiuons in 
the race of improvement; hence we are said to possess 
the principle of emulation. 

We also soon distinguish between what is good or 
bad in conduct: the sense of the beautiful is closely 
related to,and connected with,the moral sense, or that 
faculty whereby we distinguish what is good and beau- 
tiful, and therefore praiseworthy, in our actions, from 
■what is bad and displeasing, and therefore blamew orthy. 
The inherent conviction of our moral responsibility 
leads us to follow the one and avoid the other. We 
see that self-indulgence, if carried too far, is injurious 
to ourselves, and often detrimenlal to the happine.«s 
of others; we hence recognize two distinct principles, 
or rather two distinct classes of emotions in our nature, 
— the one class has been called the selfish emotions, 
the other the benevolent emotions; the one seeks the 
gratitication of self, the other seeks to promote the hap- 
piness of others. The principle of sympathy leads us 
to adopt the golden rule of conduct, viz., to do unto 
others as we would that they should do unto us. We 
PITY those that are in pain or distress, — we sympathize 
with them, that is, we in a certain sense make tlieir 
misery our own, and thus we are led to relieve them. 
But our instincts are not all for good: we suffer inju- 
ries or injustice from others; those injuries excite within 
us the emotions of hatred and revenge, and other 
malevolent passions; but we cannot indulge these 
passions without causing misery to ourselves as well as 
to others; hence arises the necessity of self-control. 
We tell lies — falsehoods — to screen ourselves from 
the consequences of our follies, or it may be to gratify 
our vanity; but our conscience raises its voice against 
the violation of truth. We take the property of 
others, or seek to indulge ourselves at the expense of 
others; but the golden rule tells us that theft, injustice, 
&c., are wrong, and that honesty, justice, &c.,are right. 
The love of approbation frequently engenders vanity, 
and the consciousness of power produces pride and 
CONCEIT. Education stimulates the development ol our 



142 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

virtuous emotions, and checks the development of those 
that are evil. Scripture, the revealed word of God, 
lends its all-powerful aid to inculcate what is good, and 
to denounce what is evil. We are there informed that 
God is holy as well as good, just as well as merciful; as 
judge of all the earth, therefore. He will punish the 
wicked and reward the righteous in the world to come. 

Of all our intellectual faculties, imagination, reason, 
judgment and invention are the latest in attaining their 
full growth and development. 

Oatx)f our impressions of actual scenes and events,we 
imagine or, as it were, create fictitious scenes and 
events, and invest them with all the vividness and 
warmth of reality; hence we are said to possess the fac- 
ulty of IMAGINATION. We Separate facis or general 
principles from each other, and throw them into new 
combinations with the view of deriving some new result 
or fact; in this case we are said to exercise the faculty 
of INVENTION, which is obviously very nearly allied to 
that of imagination. 

We analyze facts, compare them with each other, 
observe their relations, and deduce from these relations 
certain general facts or principles; we compare our 
mental impressions with external things, draw conclu- 
sions, and establish certain principles of belief; in all 
these cases, we are said to exercise the faculty of rea- 
son, or it may be that of judgment. By reason we 
investigate truth, and determine the laws of evidence 
and belief. Ueason is the highest faculty of our nature, 
and admits of an indefinite degree of cultivation. 

A more exact analysis of the mind, with a classifica- 
tion of its faculties, is given in Chap. III., Part I.,of this 
work. 



143 



CHAP. II. 

CULT[VA.TrO>^ OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES.— CULTIVATION OF THE PER- 
CEPrrVE FA0ULT[E3 AND OF THE FACULTIES OF PRI.VIITIVE JUDGMENT, CON- 
CEPTION, IMITATION, ABSTRACTION, AND LANGUAGE. 

Our first knowledge of the existence and properties of 
the material world is derived through our senses; hence 
it follows that our knowledge of the properties of mate- 
rial bodies is limited by the number ami acuteness of 
our senses. It is generally believed that we have five 
Benses, — sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch; but to 
these has been added the sense of muscular effort,or the 
sens3 of resistance to muscular action. 

Some properties are cognizable by one sense only; 
but in general our knowledge olF the external world is 
derived frofu the combined action of several senses. 
Thus color can only be known to us by the sense of 
sight, sound by the sense of hearing, taste by the sense 
of taste, cold or heat by the sense of feeling, odor by 
the sense of smell, and weight or force by the sense of 
muscular effort; but the properties of form, size, num- 
ber and texture are cognizable by at least two of our 
senses, viz., sight and touch; the ideas of number and 
succession may be conveyed to the mind by any of our 
senses; thus a succession of sounds, tastes, <fcc., may 
impress us with the idea of number as perfectly as a 
series of objects placed before the eye can do. Our 
impression of solidity, roughness or smoothness, ig 
derived from touch combined with muscular action. 
And so on to other cases. 

The first notions derived from our senses, however, 
seem to be limited and imperfect. Our real knowledge 
is only acquired by experience, in the course of which 
the impressions derived from one sense are used to sup- 
ply the deficiencies and correct the errors of the impres- 
sions derived from another aense,and by the mind acting 
upon the impressions derived from all the senses. Thus, 



144 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

for example, the primary objects of vision are color and 
apparent form; but the result of experience, derived 
from the secse of touch, &c., enables us to judge of 
distance and magnitude by our vision. It is well known 
that we have no idea of the distance of an object unless 
we have some knowledge of its magnitude, and vice 
versa. In like manner, we have no idea of the intensity 
of sounds unless we have some knowledge of their dis- 
tance, end vice versa. Experience also enables us to judge 
of the distance of an object by the degree of its bright- 
ness, or by the degree of distinctness of its outline: hence 
it is that in a picture distant objects are drawn faintly 
and with an indistinctness in the outline of their minute 
parts. The apparent form of a body is often very differ- 
ent from the true idea which we conceive of it; in fact, 
our conception of an object derived from vision is as 
much a matter of judgment as of sensation. We avail 
ourselves of this principle in perspective drawing, where 
we diminish the size of the lines representing known 
objects to convey the idea of distance, and fore-shorten 
the lines which represent the parts of objects seen 
obliquely. These observations show that we have to 
learn the right use of our senses. It is the business of 
the teacher to aid nature in accomplishing this end. 

On the cultivation of the senses, Miss Edgeworth 
observes: — 

" Kousseau has judiciously advised that the senses of 
children should be cultivated with the utmost care. In 
proportion to the distinctness of their perceptions will 
be the accuracy of their memory, and probably, also, 
the precision of their judgment. A child who sees 
imperfectly cannot reason justly about the objects of 
sight, because he has not sufficient data. A child who 
does not hear distincth'^ cannot judge well of sounds; 
and, if we could suppose the sense of touch to be twice 
as accurate in one child as in another,we might conclude 
that the judgment of these children must differ in a 
similar proportion. The defects in organization are not 
within the power of the preceptor; but we may observe 
that inattention and want of exercise are frequently 



CULTIVATION OF THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 145 

the causes of what are mistaken for natural defects; 
and, on the contrary, increased attention and cultivation 
Bometimes produce that quickness of eye and ear, and 
tbat consequent readiness of judgment, which we are 
apt to attribute to natural superiority of organization 
or capacity." 

The cultivation of the senses necessarily includes the 
cultivation of the faculty of perception. This faculty 
demands the earliest attention and cultivation; its first 
development is best attained by directing it to the 
examination of form and number, and afterwards to 
the various other properties of bodies. A sufficient 
time should be allowed the child to examine and observe 
the different parts and peculiarities of- the object at 
which he looks; and we should not expect him to give 
his attention to more than one subject at a time. He 
should be led to compare one object with another, or it 
may be different parts of the same object with each 
other. He should be shown how to direct all his senses 
to an object with the view of determining all its prop- 
erties. He will, in the course of this examination, fre- 
quently find that he is able to detect the same property 
by different senses. Thus, for example, the teacher may 
Bay to his pupil — What shape has this object (a ball) ? 
P. It is round. T. How do you know that it is round? 
P. I see that it is round. T. Is there no other way by 
which you can know that it is round? You seem to 
hesitate, — now take it in your hand and run your fingers 
over its surface. P. ifeel that it is round. T. But your 
feeling tells of another property which that object has, 
— what is that property ? F. It feels smooth. T. But 
there is another way by which you know that it is 
smooth? P. It looh smooth,— it is glossy or bright. 
T. True — your experience teaches you that bodies which 
appear bright or glossy are almost always smooth. 
Now close your eyes, and take this body in your hands, 
— can you feel what color it has ? P. 1 cannot feel 
color. T. Now open your eyes, and tell me what color 
it has. P. I see that it is red. 

In cultivating the perceptive faculties, the teacher 



146 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

sbould frequently require his pupils to judge of the 
distance of an object from its apparent size, or from its 
distinctness of outline, and vice versa, or of the distance 
of a sound from its intensity, or of the distance of a 
place by the time which it takes them to walk to it. The 
eye should be exercised in noting the position of objects 
with respect to each other, and in comparing the mag- 
nitude of the angles formed by lines and planes. They 
should be accustomed to use the foot rule in measuring 
the lengths and breadths of different things, and also 
their distances from one another, so that they may at 
once be able to verify their judgments relative to the 
sizes of different objects. The weights and capacities 
of bodies should also be made a subject of observation. 
In order to give an idea of density, or the lightness or 
heaviness of a substance, the attention of the child 
should be directed to the size of a pound of tea as com- 
pared with the size of a pound of sugar,or to the weight 
of a sovereign as compared with the weight of a shilling. 
In all these exercises, the child should be required to 
express in language the results of his observations or 
judgments; and, whenever it is practicable, he should 
be required to draw the object or objects to which his 
attention has been directed; nothing tends to cultivate 
the eye and the hand so much as drawing. Proceeding 
in this way, the teacher will combine perception, ob- 
servation, JUDGMENT, drawing, AND LANGUAGE IN THE 
SAME EXERCISE. 

The habit of exact perception and observation will be 
further cultivated by directing the attention of the 
child to various natural phenomena, such as we have 
described under our general axioms. It is almost un- 
necessary to say that music will exercise the same influ- 
ence in the cultivation of the ear that drawing does in 
reference to the eye. 

The conceptive faculties should be cultivated at 
the same time as the perceptive faculties. After the 
attention of a child has been sufficiently directed to an 
object, it should be removed from his sight, and then he 
should be required to describe it in language, or, it may 



CULTIVATION OF THE CONCEPTIVB FACULTIES. 147 

be, by drawing a representation of it. In like manner, 
after certain operations of numbers have been explained 
to him, by reference to familiar objects, such as balls or 
strokes, he should be required to perform by the ordinary 
process of mental calculation, similar operations without 
the aid of such objects. He should also be required to 
describe, in his own language,particular scenes and events 
which he may have recently witnessed. 

A teacher should address his instruction to the eye as 
well as to the ear. The subject should be illustrated by 
pictures, drawings, or figures, as the case m^y require, 
and new phrases or wo'*ds should be written in large char- 
acters upon the blackboard. In all cases, the concep- 
tion of any new thing should be aided by words, by 
symbols, by figurative representations, or by models. 

After all the properties of a body have been examined 
by the pupils, the names given to these properties should 
be thoroughly impressed upon their minds. These prop- 
erties, as we have before remarked, should then be made 
a subject of comparison or contrast, as the case may be, 
with the corresponding properties of other bodies; and 
then the property or properties by which the object on 
which the lesson is given is distinguished from other 
bodies should be distinctly pointed out, and the judgments 
thus formed should be expressed in simple and appro- 
priate language. The uses to which the body is ap- 
plied should then be exhibited; and the connection 
between its distinguishing properties and its uses should 
be carefully explained and illustrated. 

Children like to dwell in the ideal world, — the world 
of conceptions. The depth and vividness of their con- 
cepti«ms are intensified by the emotions elicited by our 
lessons. The following subjects of instruction are highly 
calculated to interest the feelings, and to invigorate the 
conceptive faculty : zo6logy,comprehending a description 
of the habits of the wild animals of the forest; geogra- 
phy, comprehending descriptions of strange and distant 
lands; mental arithmetic, in which the fundamental oper- 
ations of numbers are conducted without the aid of sym- 
bolical notation; astronomy, describing the revolutions 



148 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

of the vast globes which move through the amplitudes 
of space; and so on. As an example, let the subject of 
the lesson be the form and magnitude of tU earth. 

Notes of a Lesson for cuUivatin'g the Faculty of Conception, 
Age of the pupils alout seven. 

The world is a globe like an orange; the orange is a 
little globe, but the world is a vast globe many thousands 
of times larger than the orange. When you look from 
the top of a high hill, you only see a small portion of the 
earth's surface; beyond the distant hills ajid trees which 
bound your view there are hills and trees, and again hills 
and trees' far, far beyond. Navigators have sailed round 
the earth. The length of a line going round the earth is 
about 25,000 miles. You cannot tell what a great dis- 
tance this is, but 1 shall try to give you some idea of it. 
You have travelled in a railway train, and you know 
how fast it moves; well, I once travelled in a fast train 
from London to York in four hours; now it would take 
that train constantly going about three weeks to go round 
the earth. Such is the great size of the earth. But the 
distance round the earth is almost nothing when com- 
pared with the celestial spaces. You have seen the even- 
ing star (Venus) when the sun is sinking in the western 
sky; — the sun is seen beside the farm-house, and Yenus 
over the forest, only a few miles from the farm-house; 
now the real distance between the sun and Venus is up- 
wards of 60 millions of miles, or more than two thousand 
times the girt (circumference) of our earth. And so on. 

In this lesson we shall have cultivated other faculties 
besides that of conception. 

Definitions of terms should be given, as far as prac- 
ticable, in connection with the things or properties which 
are designated by these terms. Thus, for example, if we 
"wish to give a definition of the term elasticity^ we should 
take a piece of india-rubber and stretch it out before the 
pupil, saying to him at the same time: Now I am ex- 
erting a pulling force, so as to stretch this long piece of 
india-rubber; what do you observe in reference to the 



CULTIVATION OP THE CONCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 149 

alteration in its shape ? P. You have stretched it out, 
— it is longer than it was at first. T. Now I release it, 
—now the stretching force ceases to act, — what do you 
now observe ? P. It has returned to its original shape. 
T. This property is called elasticity, and the india-rubber 
is said to be elastic. Now tell me, in your own language, 
what you mean by the property of elasticity. P. That 
if the body be stretched out, and then let go (released) 
from the force, it will return to its original shape. T. 
True; but we may express the same thing thus: elas- 
ticity is that property whereby a body returns to its 
original shape after the force which has altered its shape 
is withdrawn. 

Definitions of form should be given in connection 
with the actual construction of the figures which we 
wish to define. As oar geometrical definitions and 
postulates are based upon experience and observation, 
one of the first steps in mathematical instruction is to 
show how geometrical figures may be described in ac- 
cordance with their definitions, and, at the same time, to 
aid the mind of the pupil in forming general or abstract 
conceptions of these figures. The best way of showing 
the possihility of drawing a perfect figure is actually to 
draw it, with a greater or less degree of accuracy, ac- 
cording to the conditions of its abstract definition. Thus, 
if we wish to give the definition of a circle, we should 
take a string and describe a circle with it, before the 
pupil, saying to him at the same time; — The figure 
bounded by this chalk line is called a circle; the fixed, 
point about which the string revolves is called the centre 
of the circle; the length of the string, which constantly 
remains the same, is the radius; the chalk line itself, 
which forms the boundary of the figure, is called the 
circumference; and the line drawn through the centre, 
meeting the circumference on opposite sides, is called 
the diameter. Now what have you to say about the dis- 
tance of the circumference of a circle from its centre ? 
P. It is always the same. T. In other words, you would 
«ay that the radii of a circle are all equal to one another. 
Now although this circle is not so perfect as it is possi- 



160 PHILOSOPHY OP EDUCATION. 

ble to draw one, yet you can tell me what a perfect cir- 
cle is. P. A circle is a figure bounded by a line which. 
is everywhere at the same distance from a point within 
it called the centre. 

In like manner, the pupil should be led to give in his 
own language the definitions of the terms radius,diame- 
ter, circumference, &c. Without materially altering 
the language employed by the pupil, the teacher may 
find it desirable to improve or correct it- 
Above all things, children should be accustomed to 
write their own ideas in their own language. The 
writing of the contents of a book is better than the 
Btudy of a whole commentary upon it; and the writing 
of the subject-matter of a single page often stimulates 
the appetite for learning more powerfully than the 
reading of a whole folio. On this subject Richter ob- 
serves: " Since writing signifies but the sign of things, 
and brings us through it to the things themselves, it 
is a stricter isolator and clearer collector of the ideas 
than even speech itself. Sound teaches quickly and 
generally; writing, uninterruptedly and with more 
accuracy. It is certain that our representation is much 
more a mental seeing than hearing, and that our meta- 
phors play far more on an instrument of color than of 
sound, and therefore writing which lingers under the 
eyes must assist the formation of ideas to a much greater 
extent than the rapid flight of sound. The scholar, 
indeed, carries it so far that when he reflects he 
really seems to read a printed page, and when he speaks, 
to give a little declamation out of a quickly and well 
written pamphlet. Let the boys write out their own 
thoughts sooner than copy yours,so that they may learn 
to exchange the heavy-ringing coin of sound into more 
convenient paper money. And let them be spared the 
writing-texts of schoolmasters, containing the praises of 
industry, of writing, of their master, or of some old 
prince; in short, subjects about which the teacher can 
produce nothing better than his pupil. Every repre- 
sentation without some actual object or motive is poison. 
1 cannot understand schoolmasters! Must the man even 



CXJLTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 151 

in childhood preach from the appointed Sunday text, 
and never choose one for himself from nature's bible? 
Something similar may be said about the writing of 
open letters (an unsealed one is almost inevitably half 
untrue) which the teachers of girls' schools require, in 
order, say they, to exercise their pupils in epistolary 
style. A nothing writes to a nothing: the whole affair,, 
undertaken by the desire of the teacher, not of the heart, 
is a certificate of the death of thoughts, an announce- 
ment of the burning of the materials. Happy is it if 
the commanded volubility of the child, arising from 
coldness and addressed to emptiness, do not accustom her 
to insincerity. If letters must be forthcoming, let them 
be written to some fixed person, about some definite 
thing. But what need of * so much ado about nothing,* 
since — not even excepting political or literary news- 
papers — nothing can be written so easily as letters on 
any subject when there is a motive for them, and the 
mind is fully informed of the matter." 



CHAP. HI. 

CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, CONTINUED,— CULTIVATION 
OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 

In all our exercises of the senses, the faculty of atten- 
tion should be assiduously cultivated by all the artifices 
which we may have within our power. The habit of 
directing the faculties promptly and intensely to what- 
ever subject comes before them, lays the foundation of 
the intellectual character. This habit requires careful 
cultivation: all the pupils should be expected to concen- 
trate the whole of their powers of observation on the 
subject brought before them ; imperfect perception should 
be carefully guarded against, and erroneous conceptions 
promptly corrected; no subject should be dismissed until 



152 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

all its legitimate points of interest have been fairly ex- 
hausted; and carelessness, lassitude or indifference should 
never be permitted for one moment to exist. Besides 
the immediate benefits arising from such a course of ed- 
ucation, it exerts a most momentous influence on the 
future characters of the pupils, — it decides in a great 
measure, as Fellenberg observes, "whether they shall 
be superficial and desultory throughout life, or whether 
they shall maintain the contrary habits of application 
and accuracy with honorable perseverance." So much 
depends upon the faculty of attention, that its culture 
should form a leading subject of practical education. 

To cultivate the faculty of attention, the effort on the 
part of the child must be voluntary. By constraint, you 
may get a child to learn the task you have assigned him; 
but by this exercise you do not cultivate his power of 
attention, — you have only stimulated the child to exer- 
tion by the fear of punishment, or it may be by the hope 
of reward. By displaying the wonders of nature or art 
to a child, you render his attention voluntary, and out 
of a passive, servile creature, you make an active, self- 
dependent agent. The best means of cultivating the 
habit of attention, therefore, is to associate pleasure 
with the exertions of the pupil, especially the pleasure 
which flows from success. 

To cultivate the faculty of attention, our teaching 
should be suggestive; that is to say, we should always 
leave something for our pupils to work out themselves; 
we should never do anything for them which they can 
do for themselves; and whenever we assist them, it 
should be done in such a way as to lead them as speed- 
ily as possible to go on without assistance. We should 
not seek to remove the fair difficulties which lie in 
a pupil's way, but rather teach him how to surmount 
them. Never do anything, says Abbott, for a scholar, 
but teach him to do it for himself. How many cases 
occur, in tlie schools of this country, where the boy 
brings his slate to the teacher, saying he cannot do a 
certain sum! The teacher takes the slate and pencil,— 
performs the work in silence, — brings out the result, — 



CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 153 

returns the slate to the haiuls of his pupil, who walks off 
to his seat, and goes to work on the next example, per- 
fectly satisfied with the manner in which he is getting 
on. Such a practice, obviously, cannot conduce to the 
cultivation of the faculty of attention. 

We weaken the habit of attention by requiring our 
pupils to study too many thinajs at once, or matters 
which are above their capacity; by directing their 
minds too long to any one subject; by urging them up 
to, or beyond, the point of fatigue; or by repeatinsr too 
frequently the same exercises without variation. When- 
ever an exercise becomes too easy or too monotonous for 
our pupils, it then ceases to engage their attention, and 
acts injuriously upon their minds by engendering habits 
of listlessness and indifference. When a child, for exam- 
ple, writes the whole page of a copy head, we generally 
find that the last line is the worst written. 

A skilful teacher will sometimes turn to account the 
incidental circumstances which are calculated to draw 
off the attention of his pupils from his lesson: a butterfly 
enters the school-room, — in a moment all eyes are upon 
it; instead of scolding them for this apparent violation 
of order, he cheerfully enters into their thoughts and 
feelings, catches the butterfly, and forthwith gives them 
a conversational lecture upon their beautiful winged 
visitor. Faraday never lectures so brilliantly as when 
he happens to fail in making an experiment. 

When children become wearied out with long or in- 
tense attention, their enthusiam may often be revived 
by bringing in some fresh motive for exertion. Darwin 
thus happily illustrates this principle: — "A little boy, 
who w^as tired of walking, begged of his papa to carry 
him. *Here,' says the reverend doctor, * ride upon my 
gold-headed cane;' and the pleased child, putting it be- 
tween his legs, galloped away with delight." 

On the cultivation of the habit of attention. Miss 
Edgeworth observes: "Whatever is connected with pain 
or pleasure cominands our attentioii: but to make this 
general observation useful in education, we must examine 
what degrees of stimulus are necessarv for different 



164 PHILOSOPHY OP EDUCATION. 

pupils, and in different circumstances. It is not prudent 
early to use violent or continual stimulus, either of a 
painful or pleasurable nature, to excite children to ap- 
plication, because we should by an intemperate use of 
these Weaken the mind, and because we may with a 
little patience obtain all we wish without these expedients. 
Besides these reasons, there is another potent argument 
against using violent motives to excite attention; such 
motives frequently disturb and dissipate the very at- 
tention which they attempt to fix. If a child be 
threatened with severe punishment, or flattered with the 
promise of some delicious reward, in order to induce his 
performance of any particular task, he desires instantly 
to perform the task; but this desire will not insure his 
Buccess; unless he has previously acquired the habit of 
voluntary exertion, he will not be able to turn his mind 
from his ardent wishes, even to the means of accomplish- 
ing them. He will be in the situation of Alnaschar, in 
the Arabian tales, who, whilst he dreamt of his future 
grandeur, forgot his immediate business. To teach any 
Dew habit or art, we must not employ any alarming ex- 
citements; small, certain, regularly-recurring motives, 
which interest, but which do not distract the mind, are 
evidently the best. The ancient inhabitants of Minorca 
"Were said to be the best slingers in the world; when 
they were children, every morning what they were to eat 
was slightly fastened to high poles, and they were 
obliged to throw down their breakfasts with their slings 
from the places where they were suspended, before they 
could satisfy their hunger. The motive seems to have 
been here well proportioned to the effect that was re- 
quired; it could not be any great misfortune for a boy 
to go without his breakfast; but as this motive returned 
every moruing,it became sufficiently serious to the hungry 
filingers. It is impossible to explain this subject so as 
to be of use, without descending to minute particulars. 
When a mother says to her little daughter, as she places 
on the table before her a bunch of ripe cherries, *Tell 
ine, my dear, how many cherries are there, and I will 
give them to you,' — the child's attention is fixed in- 



CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 155 

stantly; there is a sufficient motive; not a motive which 
excites any violent passions, but which raises just such a 
degree of hope as is necessary to produce attention. The 
little girl, if she knows from experience that her mother's 
promise will be kept, and that her own patience is likely 
to succeed, counts the cherries carefully, has her reward, 
and upon the next similar trial she will from this success 
be still more disposed to exert her attention. The pleasure 
of eating cherries, associated with the pleasure of success, 
will balance the pain of a few moments' prolonged appli- 
cation, and by degrees the cherries may be withdrawn, 
and the association of pleasure will remain. Objects or 
thoughts that have been associated, with pleasure, retain 
thepower of pleasing; as the needle touched by the load- 
stone acquires polarity, and retains it long after the load- 
stone is withdrawn, whenever attention is habitually 
raised by the power of association, we sliould be careful 
to withdraw all the excitements that were originally used, 
because these are now unnecessary; and, as we have for- 
merly observed, the steady rule with respect to stimulus 
should be to give the least possible quantity that will 
produce the effect we want. Success is a great pleasure; 
as soon as children become sensible to this pleasure, that 
is to say, w^hen they have tasted it two or three times, 
they will exert their attention merely with the hope of 
succeeding. We have seen a little boy of three years old, 
frowning with attention for several minutes together, 
■whilst he was trying to clasp and unclasp a lady's bracelet; 
his whole soul was intent upon the business, he neither 
saw nor heard anything else that passed in the room, 
though several people were talking, and some happened 
to be looking at him. The pleasure of success, when he- 
had clasped the bracelet, was quite sufficient; he looked 
for no praise, though he was perhaps pleased with the 
sympathy that was shown in his success. Sympathy is 
a better reward for young children in such circumstances 
than praise, because it does not excite vanity, and it is 
connected with benevolent feelings; besides, it is not so 
violent a stimulus as applause. Instead of increasing 
excitements to produce attention we may vary them, 



156 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

which will have just the same effect. When sympathy 
fails, try curiosity ; when curiosity fails, try praise; when 
praise begins to lose its effect,try blame; and when you go 
back again to sympathy, you will find that, after this in- 
terval, it will have recovered all its original power. There 
are some people who have the power of exciting others 
to great mental exertions, not by the promise of specific 
rewards, or by the threats of any punishment, but by the 
ardent ambition wnich they inspire, by the high value 
which is set upon their love and esteem. When we have 
formed a high opinion of a friend, his approbation be- 
comes necessary to our self-complacency, and we think 
no labor too great to satisfy ^our attachment. Our exer- 
tions are not fatiguing, because they are associated with 
all the pleasurable sensations of affection, self-compla- 
cency, benevolence, and liberty. These feelings in youth 
produce all the virtuous enthusiasm characteristic of 
great minds; even childhood is capable of it in some 
degree, as those parents well know who have ever en- 
joyeil the attachment of a grateful, affectionate child. 
Those who neglect to cultivate the affections of their 
pupils, will never be able to excite them to nolle ends by 
nohle means. Theirs will be the dominion of fear, from 
which reason will emancipate herself, and from which 
pride will more certainly revolt. If Henry the Fourth of 
France had been reduced like Dionysius, the tyrant of 
Syracuse, to earn his bread as a schoolmaster, what a 
different preceptor he would probably have made! Di- 
onysius must have been hated by his scholars as much 
as by his subjects; for it is said, that 'he practised upon 
children that tyranny which he could no longer exercise 
over men.' The ambassador who found Henry the 
Fourth playing upon the carpet with his children,would 
probably have trusted his own children, if he had any,to 
the care of such an affectionate tutor. Henry the Fourth 
would have attracted his pupils whilst he instructed them ; 
they would have exerted themselves because they could 
not have been happy without his esteem. Henry's 
courtiers, or rather his friends, for though he was a king 
he had friends,sometimes expressed surprise at their own 



CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 157 

disinterestedness: 'This king pays us vith words,' said 
they, *and yet we are satisfied!' Sully, when he was only 
Baron de Rosny,and before he had any hopes of being a 
duke, was once in a passion with the king, his master, 
and half resolved to leave him; * But I don't know how 
it was,' said the honest ministei-; ' with all his faults, 
there is something about Henry w^hich I found I could 
not leave; and when I met him again, a few words made 
me forget all my causes of discontent.' Children are 
more easily rewarded. Whi;n once this generous desire 
of affection and esteem is raised in the mind, their exer- 
tions seem to be universal and spontaneous; children are 
then no longer like machines, which require to be m ound 
up regularly to perform certain revolutions; they are 
animated with a living principle, which directs all that 
it inspires." 

While the teacher endeavors to engage the attention 
of all his pupils, and equally to ensure the progress of all, 
he must not expect to find that they will all manifest the 
same amount of attention, or that they will all make the 
same progress. " Do not hope," says Abbott, " to make 
all your pupils alike. Providence has determined that 
human minds should differ from each other, for the very 
purpose of giving variety and interest to this busy scene 
of life. Now if it were possible for a teacher so to plan 
his operations as to send his pupils forth upon the com- 
munity, formed on the same model as if they were made 
by machinery, he would do so much towards spoiling one 
of the wisest plans which the Almighty has formed for 
making this world a happy scene. It is impossible, if it 
• were wise, and it would be foolish if it were possible, to 
fitiraulate, by artificial means, the rose, in hope of its 
reaching the size and magnitude of the apple-tree, or to 
try to cultivate the fig and the orange where wheat only 
will grow. No; it should be the teacher's main design 
to shelter bis pupils from every deleterious influence,and 
to bring everything to bear upon the community of minds 
before him which will encourage, in each one,the devel- 
opment of his own native powers. Error on this point 
is very common. Many teachers, even among those who 



158 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

have taken high rank, through the successes with which 
they have labored in this field, have wasted much time, 
in attempting to do what can never be done; to form the 
character of those brought under their influence, after a 
certain uniform model, which they have conceived as the 
standard of excellence. Their pupils must write just 
such a hand, they must compose in just such astyle,they 
must be similar in sentiment and feeling, and their man- 
ners must be formed according to a fixed and uniform 
model; and when, in such a case, a pu])il comes under 
their charge whom Providence has designed to be en- 
tirely different from the boau-ideal adopted as the 
standard, more time and pains and anxious solicitude are 
wasted in vain attempts to produce the desired conform- 
ity than half the school requires beside." 

The teacher must suppose human nature to be neither 
better nor worse than it really is; he must not expect to 
find the faculty of attention ready formed in the minds of 
his pupils; on the contrary, he must expect that the cul- 
tivation of this faculty in his different pupils will demand 
his constant study, and that unless means are adopted to 
secure this end all his labor will be utterly lost. Some 
teachers seem never to make it a part of their calculation 
that their pupils will be guilty of wilful inattention or 
do anything wrong, and then, when any misconduct 
occurs, they are disconcerted and irritated, and look 
and act as if some unexpected occurrence had broken in 
upon their plans. A man comes home from school at 
night perplexed and irritated at the petty acts of mis- 
conduct and inattention of his pupils. 

" Sir," we might say to him, " what is the matter ? " 

" Why, I have such boys,I can do nothing with them. 
Were it not for their inattention and want of respect, I 
might have a very good school." 

" Were it not for the boys! Why, is there any pecul- 
iar depravity in them which you could not have fore- 
seen?" 

"N"o; I suppose they are pretty much like all other 
boys," he replies despairingly; "they are all hair-brained 
and unmanageable. The plans I have formed for my 



CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 15d 

school would be excellent, if my boys would only behave 
properly." 

" Excellent plans," might we not reply, " and yet not 
adapted to the materials upon which they are to oper- 
ate! No. It is your business to know what sort of 
beings boys are, and to make your calculation accord- 
ingly." 

The means which we employ in cultivating the habit 
of attention, therefore, should have a due regard to the 
natural differences of temper and talents of our pupils. 
Inattentive boys may be ranked under five classes, viz.: 
the feeble^ the sluggish^ the volatile^ the timid, and the 
quick. An observing teacher soon discovers to which 
class any particular boy should be referred, and, know- 
ing the cause of inattention, he is able to apply the 
proper remedy. 

1. The boy of feeble intellect is inattentive be- 
cause of his incapacity. He shows a feverish anxiety 
to understand what is said to him, and, failing to do so, 
he soon relaxes his attention, and gives up in despair. 
The boy's dullness should never be a subject of censure, 
nor should he be stimulated to exertion by the hope of 
reward. Everything should be made as easy for him 
as possible; and as weariness is sure to follow any 
unusual stretch of attention, his lesson should be short 
as well as easy. Above all things, we should be patient 
with him, and never taunt him with the trouble which 
he may give us. By such means, the feeble boy may 
become as remarkable for his steadiness and persever- 
ance as he is for his want of intellectual power; such 
boys not unfrequently become useful men. "If the 
Creator has so formed the mind of a boy that he must 
go through life slowly and with difficulty, impeded by 
obstructions which others do not feel, and depressed by 
discouragements which others never know, his lot la 
surely hard enough, without having you to add to the 
trials and sufferings, which sarcasm and reproach from 
you can heap upon him. Look over your school-room, 
therefore, and wherever you find one whom you perceive 
the Creator to have endued with less intellectual power 



160 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

than others, fix your eye upon him with ai) expression 
of kindness and sympathy." 

r 2. The sluggish, lazy boy is inattentive from a want 
of all mental activity. He hates learning for the trouble 
which it gives him, and nothing seems to afford him so 
much enjoyment as lounging at his ease. Bis intellectual 
powers may be originally good, but he allows them to 
rust away lor want of use. Here some powerful stimu- 
lants are required to arouse him from his mental torpor; 
every motive to exertion should be tried, until we hit 
upon the right one. Locke divides sluggish boys into 
two species: those who are indolent only at their books 
or lessons; and those who are indolent in everything, 
even at their play; the mental distemper in the former 
case seems only local and accidental, whereas in the lat- 
ter case it is general and constitutional; the one, under 
proper management, may be readily cured, but the other 
almost defies the power of remedy. The book-saunterer, 
as Locke would call him, is generally the leader at all 
sports and games; and when any daring act of mischief 
has been done, he is sure to have had a hand in it. 
Scott and Byron, as boys, belonged to this class, since 
their want of aptitude for learning was doubtless attrib- 
utable to the dogmatic system under which they were 
taught. We should never despair of a boy who exhibits 
great energy of character at his games; for in a slug- 
gish mind of this kind we often find the slumbering 
energies of a higher intellect; like the rough diamond, 
it must be cut and polished before it can shine with its 
proper brilliancy and loveliness. The most hopeless 
dunce is that boy in whom confirmed sluggishness is 
combined with feebleness of intellect. 

3. The volatile boy is inattentive from his love of 
novelty. He is continually staring about him, he is the 
first boy in the class to notice anything unusual, and his 
exclamation of surprise is generally the key-note of a 
general outbreak. He is fond of fun, and is a general 
favorite in the school, for he is neither feared nor en- 
vied. His disposition to wander from subject to sub- 
ject prevents him from becoming sufficiently acquainted 



CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTEN'TIOX. 161 

Avith any. In order to counteract this tendency, we 
should endeavor to fix his mind upon some subject for 
which he has shown something like a predilection, by 
directing his attention to it again and again until we 
have succeeded; having once developed the faculty in 
relation to one subject, it then becomes a comparatively 
easy task to succeed with other subjects. Examples of 
application and perseverance should often be held up for 
his imitation, with a view of giving a proper direction 
to his ambition and enthusiasm. 

4. The TIMID BOY is inattentive for war.t of a sufficient 
confidence in his own powers, as well as from a want of 
that implicit trust which children generally repose in 
their teachers. The mischievous boys in the school 
look upon him as fair game to be hunted down. He 
sconces himself in the most distant nook of the school- 
room, and looks forth from his retreat upon the maps, 
the great card containing the routine of lessons, the 
blackboard with all the mysterious chalk lines upon it, 
the master with his pointer in his left hand and the 
chalk in his right, — he looks upon all these, as well as 
the other school apparatus and appendages, with fear 
and trembling. Poor child! how can he direct his 
attention to the lesson that is being given by the master, 
who probably stands, thundering forth his expositions 
and demonstrations, as if he were commanding a brigade 
of artillery. In order to counteract this timidity, he 
should be treated with gentleness and persuasion; he 
should be encouraged to apply himself to his work, by 
being shown that he is quite able to perform it; he 
should never be pressed for time; he should be shown 
that patience and earnest attention can do as much, 
or even more, for him, than quickness of intellect, and 
that to be slow and sure is more commendable than to be 
quick and uncertain. Such children are confirmed in 
their diffidence, when they find that they cannot under- 
stand or remember one-tenth of the knowledge forced 
upon them by an injudicious teacher. 

5. The quick, clever boy is inattentive from his 
extreme mental activity, and from his excess of self-con- 



162 PHILOSOPJIY OF EDUCATION. 

fidence. He is a great talker, but a bad listener; he 
readily attains a superficial knowledge of a subject, but 
never attempts to penetrate its depths; from the quick- 
ness of his apprehension, he cannot listen with patient 
attention to the long sermonizing lessons of a slow 
teacher, if he is unfortunate enough to have a slow 
teacher, who methodically doles out his knowledge by the 
hour; at the close of such a lesson, he rouses himself up, 
catchesthefew concluding remarks,and upon examination 
appears to have gained a fair knowledge of the lessons. 
The powers of such a boy should be fully taxed; and to 
cure him of his presumption and conceit, he should be 
occasionally puzzled with questions, not difficult in them- 
selves, but requiring for their solution those peculiar 
attainments in which he is most deficient. Such boys 
rarely, if ever, realize the brilliant expectations of their 
friends; like the very early spring blossoms, they soon 
wither and die; whereas true genius is slow in its 
growth — the noblest trees are latest in bearing fruit, and 
the largest animals are last in arriving at perfection. 
Mere talent requires labor for its development, but 
genius develops itself spontaneously and unobtrusively. 
6. The boy of genius is not inattentive in the ordinary 
acceptation of the word; for he is occasionally capable 
of the highest efforts of attention; he sits in a half 
dreaming mood,watching for the moment when a subject 
suited to his peculiar taste shall present itself; to a 
common observer he appears dull, but it is the dullness 
which proceeds from inward thought. His absence of 
mind is often mistaken for stupidity; and his laconic, 
yet significant, answers to questions, are frequently at- 
tributed to a want of a logical concatenation of ideas; 
but to appreciate him, we should consider what he does 
not say, not less than what he actually does say. He is 
a quiet, retiring, reflective, strange boy; — nobody can 
understand him, — he is always doing what he should 
not do, and rarely does what he is required to do, — be 
talks when he should be silent, and loses his power of 
speech when he has to answer a question; nobody can 
understand him, because nobody will understand him; 



CULTIVATIOX OF THE FACULTY OF ATTEXTIOX. 163 

but all at once lie shows a predilection for some par- 
ticular study, — nature at length asserts her ^prerogative, 
— his winged spirit bursts the walls of its prison house, 
and mounts on high into its kindred sphere of thought; 
now everybody understands him,— everybody knew 
perfectly well that his wayward acts were aberrations 
of genius, and that there could be no mistaking the 
sovereign stamp which nature had impressed upon his 
brow. Poor boy! if you had fallen in taking your 
ethereal flight, what scorn, what obloquy would have 
been yours! 

It becomes the sacred duty, not less than the high 
privilege, of the schoolmaster of the poor to foster and 
protect the boy of genius, struggling amid the pressure 
of indigence and persecution. When his heart is about 
to sink under the conflict, let him be told of the tri- 
umphs of those kindred spirits who have gone before 
him; Thomas Simpson, who studied mathematics at the 
loom, — Hugh Miller, who mused on geology when he 
was hewing stones, — Michael Faraday, who made chem- 
ical experiments when he was a journeyman book- 
binder, — Ferguson, who watched the stars as he tended 
his flocks, — Gifford, who studied Latin when he was 
making shoes, — Peter Nicholson, who wrote his work 
on carpentry when he was at the bench, — Robert Burns, 
who carolled his sweetest songs as he followed the 
plough — Benjamin Franklin, who drew the lightning 
from the clouds when he kept a prmter's shop. 

What are we to do with a boy of genius ? The fact 
is, we should rather ask — What should we refrain from 
doing ? We cannot cultivate his faculty of attention, 
for in him it grows best spontaneously; is it not better, 
therefore, to leave him to the bent of his own genius? 
Laplace would have been as inattentive at an opera as 
Mozart would have been at a mathematical lecture. 

The faculty of concentration, or continuous attention, 
which requires careful culture in ordinary minds, seems 
to spring spontaneously into existence in the mind en- 
dowed with genius. This spontaneous development of 
attention may be regarded as one of the surest evidences 



164 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

of genius. Great men have always been remarkable for 
the power of concentrating all the energies of their soul 
on their favorite subject. Newton attributed his own 
greatness to the power which he had of "keeping a sub- 
ject constantly in his mind." The mathematician, 
absorbed day after day in the investigation of the prop- 
erties of lines and symbols, gives evidence of this con- 
tinuous attention. The philosopher, who shuts himself 
out from the gay world, denies himself the ordinary en- 
joyments of existence, and curbs the kindly sympathies 
of his nature, to live in a world of abstractions — the 
world of his own thoughts — he too gives evidence of 
this remarkable power. Genius seems to be impelled by 
an irresistible law to deny itself everything which lies 
without the sphere of its action, and to live upon the 
impalpable essences of its own creation. Such men are 
scarcely to be envied, — they too often become martyrs 
to their application, or unha])py victims to the intensity 
of their own power. In concluding these observations, 
we venture to give 

A short digression on thought , language, and genius. 

Who can measure the pulsations of thought? Even 
our mightiest thoughts come and go like flashes of the 
subtile lightning. Languagje retards the passage of 
thought, as imperfect conductors impede the passage of 
electricity. Thought is something very different from 
language, yet we find it difficult to separate the one from 
the other. We may have an exuberance of language 
with a poverty of thought; and we may have thoughts 
which language but poorly conveys. Ordinary thinkers 
are never at a loss for words; but original thinkers often 
feel the insufficiency of language — their ideas have to 
struggle their way into the world of expression. Common- 
place thoughts are easily expressed, bat language often 
fails to transmit some of our higher conceptions. There 
are thoughts to which language never yet gave expression 
just as there are systems whose light has not yet reached 
our world. Writings of genius are not so much valued 



THOUGHT, LA^sGUAGE, AXD GENIUS. 165 

for the mere knowledge which they contahi, as for the 
marvellous power which they have in creating thought. 
Thoughts of genius are always new, — they are always 
suggestive, — they awaken fresh trains of thought in 
every mind that seeks to interpret them ; this is no doubt 
chiefly owing to the inadequacy of the language to give 
a sufficiently full expression to the vastness or intricacy 
of the thought, so that there is always something like 
indefiniteness about the language. The truth is,language 
cannot comprehend the length and breadth and depth of 
a great conception; for the language is but the shadow 
of the substance. Ever since the dawn of creation, the 
sun has shed his light upon the host of planets which 
surround him, yet he has lost nothing of his original 
splendor; so in like manner the glorious productions of 
creative genius have shed their light, age after age,upon 
the world, yet they still shine on with undiminished 
brilliancy and lustre. How exhaustless are the works of 
genius! that god-like power which creates a world for 
the study of generations of ordinary men. Newton 
affirmed that the diamond was inflammable, but four 
generations had passed away before the conception was 
confirmed by experiment; and his law of gravitation has 
not yet attained its fall development. After a lapse of 
three centuries, the conceptions of Shakspeare have lost 
nothing of their virgin freshness and bloom. 

Slight circumstances often determine the peculiar 
bent of genius. The swinging of a chandelier in a ball- 
room led Galileo lo the invention of the pendulum; the 
great philosopher heard not the inspiring music,saw not 
the gay, glittering throng with which he wim surrounded, 
felt no rapture at the smile of beauty; his attenlion w^as 
concentrated on the synchronism of the vibrations of the 
chandelier; thousands had age after age looked upon 
the same thing, without having caught hold of the grand 
idea which it was calculated to suggest. While in the 
act of bathing, Archimedes was led to the conception of 
specific gravity; his attention was awakened by feeling 
the buoyancy of his body when submerged in the water. 
The falling of an apple, it is said, led Newton to the 



166 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

discovery of gravitation. Had none before him asked 
the question — why does the apple fall ? Doubtless 
many had asked the question, but to them nature had 
given no satisfactory response, — she had only echoed 
back the inquiry; but the simple fact became, in the 
mind of the prince of philosophers, the first link in the 
chain of induction, which led him to the great principle 
which animates the material universe. Our greatest 
philosopher was knighted: does the name of Newton 
appear less illustrious by being shorn of its title of 
nobility? Newton might do honor to the title, but it 
could confer no honor upon him. No public monument 
has yet been reared to bear testimony to a nation's grat- 
itude for the achievements of her greatest son: every- 
where we meet with. statues and towers and triumphal 
pillars, erected to record the existence of our monarchs, 
or to commemorate the deeds of our statesmen and 
warriors; but, as if conscious of the insufficiency of such 
a tribute, we have reared no monument to him, whose 
fame is as far above that of kings, or statesmen, or 
heroes, as heaven is above earth. Foolish conception! 
raise a monument of stone and mortar to perpetuate the 
memory of Newton! his monument is the temple of the 
universe, and his name is written in imperishable char- 
acters in the great laws which he discovered. The 
pyramids of Egypt will moulder and decay; empires, 
which at present rule the world, will one day appear as 
little specks upon the stream of time; old ocean will 
charge its channel; but, secure amid the wreck of time, 
the fame of Newton will be seen towering in growing 
majesty and grandeur, for the laws which he discovered 
will have then received a fuller development. The 
superhuman genius of Newton appeared at its proper 
epoch, that is, when the laws of gravitation had to be 
revealed to humanity. No physical law has been dis- 
covered out of which such vast results have been evolved; 
indeed, it is difficult to conceive that there actually re- 
mains to be discovered any law of nature more com- 
prehensive than that of gravitation, — which enables us 
at once to look back upon the past history of the solar 



CULTIVATION OF MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION. 167 

system, and forward to the aspect wliich it will present 
at any given future period, — which enables us to deter- 
mine the existence, position and magnitude of planetary 
bodies which had eluded the searching power of the tel- 
escope, — which carries our intelligence into those regions 
of sj)ace where the human eye has not penetrated, 
or over which the light of our sun has not yet travelled. 
Upon what apparently trifling circumstances great dis- 
coveries often depend! Long before- the present seas 
had rolled, or the present vegetation had covered the 
earth, a huge monster fortuitously left its footprints 
upon a plastic strand, which in the lapse of cycles of 
ages became hardened and covered over with rocks and 
clays; but the geologist excavates these imprints, and in 
his hands they become the medals of creation, telling of 
its vast antiquity, and of the races which had been time 
after time swept away from the face of the globe before 
it attained its present condition of perfect maturity. 
How marvellous are the discoveries of modern philoso- 
phy! Truly the human race is but in its infancy. 



CHAP. lY. 

CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, CONTINUED.— CULTIVATION 
OF MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION. 

The art of memory, says a distinguished writer, is the 
art of attention; so that, in fact, the cultivation of 
memory reduces itself to the cultivation of the habit of 
attention. If we take care to engage the attention, we 
may safely leave the memory to take care of itself. 

There is, however, a great difference between simple 
memory and that modification of it which we call recol- 
lection. Memory is a receptive faculty, and seems to 
act, in some measure, independently of the will; it is, 
perhaps, more subject to physical conditions than any 
other intellectual faculty, and being considered, in itself, 



168 rHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

more a natural than an acquired gift, it almost entirely 
lies without the sphere of the educator. On the other 
hand, recollection is to a great extent a voluntary 
power, which grows with our intellectual growth, and 
therefore admits of the highest degree of culture. 

The power of remembering facts in the exact order 
in which they transpired, or of remembering words in 
the order in which they were spoken or printed, may be 
called a mere local memory, where no judgment is exer- 
cised by the individual in the selection or arrangement 
of the materials; but that kind of memory which is 
based upon a proper classification of the ideas, and not 
upon mere local or incidental relations, may be called a 
philosophical memory — the recoUective faculty in its 
highest sense; for while it constitutes a distinguishing 
feature of the truly cultivated mind, it must at the same 
time be regarded as one of the most important instru- 
ments in the formation of the intellectual character. 
Teachers are too apt to os^errate the value of a mere 
local memory: the truth is, the boy with a ready, par- 
rot-like memory pleases everybody, whereas the boy 
who has to cogitate and con over what he wishes to 
remember, rarely stands high in popular estimation. 

There are great original differences in the power of 
m^emory amongst boys: some boys have naturally a 
quick as well as a retentive memory; others readily re- 
ceive knowledge, but as quickly lose it; indeed, a quick 
memory is not generally a retentive one, for we find 
that what we readily learn we easily forget, and what 
we are at some pains to acquire we never lose. Some 
schoolmasters consider that the best kind of memory is 
that which simply retains the greatest number of ideas 
for the longest time; others, with more discrimination, 
prefer the recoUective, reflective kind of memory, which 
selects and ai'ianges the facts and ideas as they are com- 
mitted to the intellectual treasury for future use. A 
great verbal or local memory has hitherto been too much 
regarded as the sign and seal of intellectual superiority. 
A good memory is what everybody can appreciate^ but 
the higher powers of intellect cannot be tested by a 



CULTIVATION OF MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION. 169 

common observer. The leadiuiy educational axiom, with 
a certain class of teachers, seems to be — exercise the 
memory, and out of its exercise all the other intellectual 
faculties will be evolved — give the child the materials 
of thought, and all the higher functions of thought will 
develop themselves — fill the memory with ideas, and 
then reason, judgment and imagination will spring up 
spontaneously. This is a gross error in education: the 
memory does not exercise the wonder-working powers 
which these teachers would assign to it; except, per- 
haps, in classical learning, a mere verbal memory is not 
of the greatest importance in the acquisition of knowl- 
edge, and in reality it is of very little account as regards 
the development of the other powers of the mind. A 
great memory is not at all essential to greatness of in- 
tellect: Newton and Shakspeare were neither remark- 
able for extraordinary erudition nor for unusual powers 
of memory. Indeed, men who are prodigies in this re- 
spect are never otherwise distinguished for intellectual 
endowments: their minds become so loaded with the 
ideas of others, as to render them incapable of exercising 
any independent thought. Memory, to a great man, is 
an humble confidential servant, — a sort of keeper of the 
stores, — who is expected to guard and preserve care- 
fully whatever is committed to his charge, and at the 
same time to be always ready to bring forward anything 
at the moment it is wanted. We hold that an unusual 
manifestation of this power in childhood tends to coun- 
teract the healthful development of the other intellectual 
powers. The boy who can readily commit the language 
of others to memory, is not compelled to exercise his 
judgment upon the ideas which are intended to be con- 
veyed to his mind; besides, through a want of discrim- 
ination on the part of the master, boys with a ready mem- 
ory almost invariably rise to the highest places in the 
school, and thus no adequate inducement can be held 
out to them to cultivate any other faculty; they conse- 
quently seek distinction by the path which is most acces- 
sible to them. Teachers are not sufficiently aware of 
the evils resultino- from a neo-lio-ent disres'ard of the laws 



170 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

of our intellectual and moral nature. That boy whose 
memory is cultivated at the expense of his judgment, 
cannot become a really useful member of society; his 
vanity is inflated by unmerited applause, and he is un- 
consciously led to indulge in dreams of future greatness 
which will never be realized : on the other hand, the boy 
with a slow, unostentatious, recollective memory, is 
slighted and discouraged. A teacher should never com- 
pliment a boy for having a good natural memory; boys 
of this kind soon enough gain distinction for themselves, 
for a good memory is a truly marketable sort of thing, 
which meets with patronage in all companies and from 
all classes of society; and it is further important to ob- 
serve that there is no gift of which a boy more readily 
becomes unduly and obtrusively vain, than that of mem- 
ory. The teacher should, on all fitting occasions, give 
the highest praise to the boy who habitually cultivates 
the recollective faculty. It is, however, not surprising 
that classical teachers wshould attach an undue impor- 
tance to the cultivation of verbal memory. 

Before the discovery of the art of printing, a retentive 
memory was one of the most essential prerequisites for 
literary or even for scieniiflc distinction. *' A man who 
had read a few manuscripts, and could repeat them, was 
a wonder and a treasure; he could travel from place to 
place, and live by his learning; he was a circulating 
library to a nation, and the more books he could carry 
in his head the better; he was certain of an admiring- 
audience if he could repeat what Aristotle or Saint 
Jerome had written; and he had far more encourage- 
ment to eugrave the words of others in his memory, than 
to invent or judge for himself." And even within the 
last fifty years, before Mechanics' Institutions had been 
established, when books were dear and scarce amongst 
the middle and lower classes of society, a person with a 
retentive memory was highly prized and esteemed in 
company. But now, since knowledge has been diffused 
over the length and breadth of the land, in the form of 
cheap and useful books, this species of memory has been 
very much lowered in value. People now have the 



CULTIVATION OF MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION. 171 

power of referring to a book for any particular informa- 
tion without being reduced to the necessity of consulting 
a man who may have read the book. We need not now 
encumber our memory with passages from any author 
which we may wish to quote; it is only necessary for us 
to turn to the page of the book itself where the subject 
is treated. Mere erudition, too, has lost much of its 
value in the present age of literature. We have grown 
too wise for our hoary and decrepid tutors — the ancients. 
We cannot any longer amuse ourselves with the puerili- 
ties of ancient philosophy, or pay our adorations at the 
shrine of paganism, with all its miserable ideal creations 
of gods and goddesses. The world has at least passed the 
first stage of its infancy, and the dawnings of its ap- 
proaching youth are already being seen from the tops of 
the mountains. Positive philosophy in its strictest and 
most useful sense, and Christian philosophy in its highest 
and purest sense, have been transfused through the 
countless channels in which our knowledge at present 
flows, — from the all-creative minds as a centre to the 
utmost extremities of the body of society. At the same 
time, it must be admitted that a good verbal memory, 
under proper management, and duly subordinate to the 
higher power, is not without its value in the foimatioR 
of the intellectual character, nor is its use to be ignored 
as an instrument in the acquisition of technical knowledge. 
But we again assert that the main business of the 
teacher is the cultivation of the faculty of recollection — 
the philosophical memory — not that of mere local or 
verbal memory. 

Having pointed out some of the evils which have crept 
into our present plans of education, relative to the cul- 
tivation of the memory, we shall now proceed to con- 
sider the principles upon which memory, in its widest 
sense, may be strengthened and improved. 

Memory is very much influenced ly attention, and hy our existing 
intellectual habits. 

We ahvays remember those things best on which we 



172 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

iiave bestowed the most earnest attention. All those 
means, therefore, which we employ for the cultivation of 
the faculty of attention, will also tend to cultivate that 
of memory. 

The degree of attention which we bestow on any sub- 
ject, is a voluntary act, but the peculiar direction which 
our minds will take depends almost entirely upon our 
previous intellectual habits and associations. " Of four 
individuals," says Abercrombie, "who are giving an 
account of a journey through the same district, one may 
describe chiefly its agricultural produce; another, its 
mineralogical character; a third, its picturesque beau- 
ties; w^hile the fourth may not be able to give an ac- 
count of anything except the state of the roads and the 
facilities of travelling. The same facts or objects must 
have passed before the senses of all the four; but their 
remembrance of them depends upon the points to which 
their attention was directed. Besides the manner here 
alluded to, in which the attention is influenced by pre- 
vious habits or pursuits, some persons have an active, 
inquiring state of mind, which keeps the attention fully 
engaged upon whatever is passing before them; while 
others give way to a listless, inactive condition, which 
requires to be strongly excited before the attention is 
roused to the degree required for remembrance. The 
former, accordingly, remember a gi'eat deal of all that 
passes before them, either in reading or observation. 
The latter are a[)t to say that the}^ are deficient in 
memory: their deficiency, however, is not in memory, 
but in attention; and this appears from the fact, that 
they do not forget anything which deeply engages their 
feelings, or concerns their interest." 

Our power of memory is limited by our predilections: 
no person has a memory for every subject of knowledge, 
because no person possesses a taste and talent for every 
subject. The mathematician readily remembers his 
theorems and formulas, whilst he forgets even the name 
of the existing prime minister. The antiquarian, obliv- 
ious of the common occurrences of the day, suffers not 
a single past event which is hallowed by time to escape 



MEMORY INFLUENCED BY ASSO( lATIOXS. 1/3 

from his intellectual treasury. The school-boy, who per- 
fectly remembers the names of flowers, and trees, and 
birds, and animals, tells his master that he cannot say 
his task, because he has got a bad memory. The girl, 
who retains the names of all the articles of fashionable 
dress, cannot even remember the titles of her father's 
books. Under proper management, however, the person 
who can remember things may also be made to remember 
words. In order to give a child a memory for any par- 
ticular subject, we should invest it with some charm 
calculated to interest his feelings. 

Memory is very much infiuenced hj Associations. 

The principle of association performs a most impor- 
tant part in nearly all our mental operations. By the 
association of ideas, two or more conceptions, or ideas, 
which have been contemplated together, or in immediate 
succession, become so connected or associated in our 
minds that one of them recurring recalls the others in 
the same order in which they were at first contemplated. 
Moreover, a particular idea suggests another idea which 
has some kind of relation to it; the second idea suggests 
a third, and so on to any continued series or train of 
ideas. This train of successive suggestion may go on 
to such an extent that the last idea, or the one which we 
stop to contemplate, may have no relation to the one 
with which we first started, excepting in the chain of 
association existing in our minds. The particular chain 
of thoughts which arises in our minds is no doubt much 
influenced by our intellectual habits, and by associations 
previously existing in our minds; but there are also cer- 
tain general principles of relation, whereby one thought 
suggests another. These principles of association may 
be referred to three heads: 1. Contiguity in Time and 
Place; 2. Kesemblance and Contrast; 3. Cause and 
Effect. 

1. Associations of this kind have a relation to succes- 
sion of time or place. When a boy commits a column 
of spelling to memory, he remembers the words in the 



1*74 PHILOSOPHY OF EDLCATIOX. 

order of succession, both as to time and place. To im- 
press the words upon the memory, they must be repeated 
for a certain number of times in the order in which they 
are to be remembered. This mode of exercising the 
memory is excessively irksome, and anything but in- 
structive. There are, however, some local associations 
which are highly pleasurable or painful, as the case may 
be, and which make very deep impressions upon the 
mind. Thus we associate an idea with the person by 
whom it was communicated, or with the place where we 
first formed the conception, and the idea is recalled by 
us whenever the person or place enters our thoughts. 
After long years of travel, by land and water, I visit 
again my native place, — I wander along a river's bank, 
— I look upon an old beech tree, whose wide-spreading 
branches afford a cool shade for some children at play, 
— memory waves her magic wand, recalls the past into 
existence, and peoples the scene with beings long since 
dead; — on that flowery bank sit my father and mother, 
in their holiday attire, — she smiles in his face, as he 
looks upon their children at play beneath the old beech 
tree, — I see them too, — I call them by their names, and 
they answer me; ah! the vision fades, — Stay! dear 
loved ones, stay! Why will ye fly back to the house of 
death, and leave me to the desolation of my own thoughts, 
— to mourn over the memories of the past ? 

" Mark yon old mansion frowning thro' the trees, 
Whose hollow turret wooes the whistling breeze. 
That casement, arched with ivy's brownest shade, 
First to these eyes the light of heaven conveyed. 
The mouldering gateway strews the grass grown court, 
Once the gay scene of many a simple sport; 
When nature pleased, for life itself was new, 
. And the heart promised what the fancy drew. 
See, thro' the fractured pediment revealed, 
Where moss inlays the rudely sculptured shield, 
The martin's old. hereditary nest; 
Long may the ruin spare its hallowed guest ! 
As jars the hinge, what sullen echoes call ! 
Oh, haste, unfold the hospitable hall I 
That hall, wliere once, in antiquated state. 
The chair of justice held the grave debate. 



MEMORY IXPLUENCEI) J5Y ASSOCIATIONS. 175 

Now Stained with dews, with cobwebs darkly hung, 
Oft has its roof with peals of rapture rung; 
When round yon ample board, in due degree, 
We sweetened every meal with social glee. 
The heart's light laugh pursued the circling jest, 
And all was sunshine in each little breast. 

'Twas here we chased the slipper by the sound, 
And turned the blindfold hero round and round. 

Ye Household Deities! whose guardian eye 
Marked each pure thought, ere registered on high. 
Still, still ye walk the consecrated ground. 
And breathe the soul of Inspiration round. 

As o'er the dusky furniture I bend, 
Each chair awakes the feeling of a friend. 
The storied arras, source of fond delight, 
AVith old achievement charms the wildered sight; 
And still, with Heraldry's rich hues imprest, 
On the dim window glows the pictured crest. 
The screen unfolds its many-colored chart. 
The clock still points its moral to the heart. 
That faithful monitor 'twas heaven to hear. 
When soft it spoke a promised pleasure near ; 
And has its sober hand, its simple chime, 
Forgot to trace the feathered feet of time ? 
That massive beam with curious carvings wrought, 
Whence the caged linnet soothed my pensive thought; 
Those muskets cased with venerable rust ; 
Those once-loved forms, still breathing thro* their dust, 
Starting to life — all whisper of the past." 

How true to nature is Byron's picture of the Dying 
Gladiator ! 

" I see before me the Gladiator lie ; 
He leans upon his hand, — his manly brow 
Consents to death, but conquers agony. 
And his drooped head sinks gradually low. 
And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow, 
From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one, 
Like the first of a thunder-shower ; and now 
The arena swims around him — he is gone. 
Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch 

who won. 
He heard it, but he heeded not — his eyes 
Were with his heart, and that was far away ; 
He recked not of the life he lost nor prize. 
But where his rude hut by the Danube lay, 
There were his young barbarians all at play, 



1*76 PHILOSOrilY OF ED Lr CATION. 

There was their Daciaa mother — he, their sire, 
Butchered to make a Roman holiday — 
All this rushed with his blood — shall he expire — 
x\nd unaveDged? — Arise, ye Goths, and glut your ire." 

In cultivating the memory of children, the judicious 
teacher will not fail to associate important ideas with 
local scenes and events. 

The order of time and succession is one of the earliest 
principles of association; but children should be taught 
how to employ higher principles of association ; badly 
educated people continue through life to remember 
things by the mere association of time and place ; ideas 
which have no real or rational connection with each 
other remahi in their minds to the end of existence, 
associated together. One person ties a string about his 
finger, another makes a knot in his handkerchief, and 
so on to other artifices, in order to remind them of 
something which they particularly wish to remember. 
We scarcely need observe that the memory of such 
people has not been properly cultivated in childhood. 

2. Associations of resemblance are rarely so vivid as 
those of contrast; and hence it follows that scenes or 
events which are in contrast with each other are more 
likely to be remembered than those which have a re- 
semblance. Contrast, like light and shadow, makes 
the objects more prominent; resemblance sometimes 
proves the greatest stumbling-block to memory. The 
quiet beauty of the landscape is best remembered when 
it is associated with the picturesque majesty of the 
rugged mountain scenery ; the playfulness of childhood 
most readily suggests to us the gravity of age ; and the 
happy home of peaceful industry and purity is most 
readily associated in the mind with the wretched dens 
of idleness and profligacy. Thus, we remember more 
by contrast than by resemblance. Men of great moral 
daring and adventure always have a more vivid recol- 
lection of the events of their existence, than those who 
pass their lives in peaceful seclusion. Our past life 
appears long or short, according to the number of events, 
or according to the number of ideas, which we remem- 



KESEMBLAl^CE AND CONTRAST. 177 

ber: old men wbo remain much at home find so little to 
remember in the course of a year of their monotonous 
existence, that a day of their youth really appearsionger 
to them than a year of their dotage. 

3. Although causes and effects generally stand in the 
relation of contiguity as to time and place, yet there is 
something more than mere contiguity in the connection ; 
for the constancy and dependence of the connection sub- 
sisting between a cause and its effect give us the idea of 
a more intimate relation. The minds of children are so 
constituted that they most readily remember effects in 
connection with their causes: for example, they readily 
associate the light of day with the presence of the sun; 
storms, with winds and clouds; the heat of summer,with 
the long days of sunshine; the improvement of the mind, 
with application to study; misery with crime, and hap- 
piness with virtue; and so on. Associations of this kind 
are most interesting and instructive; one idea becomes 
the nucleus of a whole series, and idea becomes so linked 
with idea that we are enabled to form a continuous chain 
of them; thus, for example, we readily remember the 
following chain of associations: rain falls from the 
clouds, — the clouds are chiefly formed by winds and 
mountains, — the cold on the tops of the mountains con- 
denses the moisture in the air, and thus clouds are formed 
— the cold on the tops of mountains is caused by the 
thinness of the air, &c., — thin air is colder than dense 
air, because it has a greater capacity for heat, — and bo 
on. The phenomena of nature, as well as the results of 
science and art, will be most easily remembered when 
they are associated with their causes. A boy who is ac- 
quainted with the physical geography of England finds 
no difficulty in remembering the localities of our manu- 
factures, of our agriculture, or of our shipping trade. In 
like manner, the great events of history are readily re- 
membered when they are taught in connection with their 
causes. And so on to other subjects of elementary in- 
Btruction, 



178 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



Philosophical Associations. 

Associations are called philosophical when a fact or an 
idea is, by a mental process, associated, with some fact or 
idea previously known, to which it has some relation. 
The fact or idea thus acquired is said to be put by in its 
proper place, so that it may be easily recalled to the 
mind by means of this connection or association. The 
habit of forming such associations gives rise to what we 
have called the philosophical memory. One great ob- 
ject of education, as we have already observed, should be 
the cultivation of this kind of memory. 

"Lulled iu the countless chambers of the brain, 
Our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain; 
Awake but one, and lo, what myriads rise ! 
Each stamps its image as the other flies. 
Each, as the various avenues of sense 
Delight or sorrow to the soul dispense. 
Brightens or fades; yet all, with magic art, 
Control the latent fibres of the heart." 

These general principles of association naturally sug- 
gest to us the following practical rules for the cultiva- 
tion of meraorv. 



Rules foe the Cultivation of Memoby. 

I. The memory of children is cultivated hy leading them to 
form associations on natural and proper principles. Some of 
these principles deserve special notice. 

1 . Facts or ideas should he arranged in their order of logical 
sequence. 

In relating a story, for example, the natural chain of 
events should not be broken by the introduction of any 
trifling or extraneous matter, calculated to destroy the 
unity of the subject. 

2. Classification and generalization are great lielps to the 
remembrance of facts or ideas. 

Every fresh fact, or idea, should be put by in its 
proper place in the mind, that is to say, the new fact or 



RULES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF MEMORY. l79 

idea should be associated with its proper class of facts 
pr ideas already existing in the mind. 

A general principle gives the key to the reruembrauce 
of a whole series of facts or events. Physical facts are 
best remembered through a knowledge of their general 
law; effects, through a knowledge of their cause; and 
results, through a knowledge of the general principles 
upon which they depend. 

A general formula, in mathematics, enables us to re- 
member, with the utmost precision, all the particular 
cases which it comprehends. In the subject of grammar, 
the general fact that all nouns ending in y, when pre- 
ceded by a consonant, form their plural by changing 
the y into ies^ very much aids the memory; and so on to 
other general principles of language. If a child is told 
that James II. was cruel, bigoted, and blindly despotic, 
he has got in his mind a general fact which will assist 
him in remembering the most remarkable events in this 
monarch's reign. The best way to make a boy remem- 
ber the directions in which the constant and periodic 
winds blow, is by teaching their cause. A knowledge 
of the general physical properties of a substance affords 
the greatest aid to the pupil in remembering the vari- 
ous experimental facts which may be given in relation 
to it; thus, for example, a knowledge of the general 
property that acids combine with alkalies enables the 
pupil to remember the result of any particular combina- 
tion of these two classes of substances. These illustra- 
tions might be indefinitely extended. 

Teachers, therefore, should constantly aid their pupils 
in grouping their ideas under general heads or princi- 
ples. Even in the common concerns of life this is of 
great utility. 

"Betty," says a farmer's wife to her servant, " Betty, 
you must go to market for some things." "Yes, ma'am." 
"But, oh-deary-me! you have got such a bad memory 
that if you have only three or four things to do, you are 
sure to forget one of them. Do try this time to re- 
member what I want. You have so many good qualities, 
and you are so tidy and so good-looking, that I really do 



180 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

iiot wish to part with you, but your forgetfuluess is 
insufferable." "Yes, ma'am, — but if my Maker has 
given me a bad memory, how can I help it ?" ** Listen 
to me — I want suet and currants for the pudding." 
" Yes, ma'am, suet and currants for the pudding." 
"Leeks and barley for the broth; don't forget them." 
"No, ma'am, leeks and barley for the broth." "A 
shoulder of mutton, a pound of tea, a pound of coffee, 
six pounds of sugar; be sure you don't forget the sugar, 
Betty, for we have not a bit in the house." "No, 
ma'am, I won't forget the sugar." ''And mind you call 
at the dressmaker's, and tell her to bring out with her 
the calico for the lining, some black thread, and a piece 
of narrow tape," "Yes, ma'am." " Stay, Betty, you'd 
better tell the grocer to give us a jar of black currant 
jam." 

During this colloquy the honest farmer had been ap- 
parently engaged in making entries in his farm-book, 
but in reality quietly and attentively observing what 
had been going on. He had his own views about Bet- 
ty's bad memory; he felt, too, that Betty's confession 
was no atonement, and most certainly gave no promise 
of amendment. The fact is, the honest farmer had al- 
most a father's love for poor Betty. 

" Come here, lass," said he, " come here, and let me 
see if I cannot get you to mind what you are going for." 
"Yes, sir." "Now then, tell me what you are going to 
bring from market." " Well, sir, there is sugar and 
tea, a shoulder of mutton, coffee, — coffee — let me see — 

and ." "My good girl, that is not the way of doing 

business. You must arrange your articles under dif- 
ferent heads, as the parson does his sermon, or you will 
never remember them. Now it appears to me that 
there are three things to provide for; 1st, Breakfast, 
2nd, Dinner, 3d, A Dressmaker. 

" 1st. What are you going to get for the breakfast?" 
"Sugar, tea, and coffee, and jam, — which I shall get at 
the grocer's.'* 

"2nd. What articles are you to get for the dinner?" 
" There's the butcher's meat, the broth, and the pud- 



UTiLrrr of grouping idEx^s. .181 

ding." "Now, what have you to get for each of them?" 
"Well, sir, the shoulder of mutton, leeks and barley for 
the broth, and suet and currants for the pudding." 
" Very good — where do you get them ? " '* The mutton 
and suet at the butcher's; the leeks at the gardener's; 
the barley and currants at the grocer's." " But you had 
something to get at the grocer's for the breakfast ?" 
"Yes, sir, I had sugar, tea, coffee, and j^m, to get for 
the breakfast, and besides 1 have barley and currants to 
get, — so that — let me see — I have altogether six 
things to get at the grocer's." "Very good, Betty, — 
you are getting to understand matters. Now,when you 
get to the grocer's, fancy one part of his counter your 
breakfast table, another part of the counter your dinner 
table, and then run over all the articles and see that you 
have got them all right." " Oh yes, sir, that is capital; 
I feel sure that I shall not forget anything to-day." 

" 3rd. The dressmaker. What has she to bring with 
her to-morrow?" '*The calico, the thread, and the 
tape." " Now gOjj^Betty, and remember that I feel much 
interested in your success." 

" Well, Betty," says her mistress, " you have got back." 
"Yes, ma'am." " But have you brought all the things 

right ? — let me see, — sugar, tea, coffee, barley, ; 

well-a-day! if you have not brought everything right 
this time." " Betty," says her master, " I am glad to see 
that you are an apt scholar; and I do believe that if 
you would always try to disentangle things, in the way 
we have done to-day, you might, by and by, rival the 
schoolmaster for memory, and the people say that he can 
repeat the catechism backwards." " Yes, sir; I am cer- 
tainly much obliged to you, and 1 shall alsvays try to 
follow out what you have shown me to-day." "Remem- 
ber also never to blame your Maker for faults which are 
due to your own negligence: be good, and endeavor in 
all things to improve the talents that He has given you, 
and I should not be at all surprised if you render your- 
self fit for becoming a farmer's wife." 

3. Reasoning is one of tlie best helps to memory. 

Results should be, as far as possible, associated with 



182 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

the processes of reasoning by which they are derived. 
This IS especially applicable to all mathematical subjects. 
Many students find a greater difficulty in remembering 
results than in remembering the steps of reasoning by 
which these results are established. Such persons will 
say to you, — *' I do not remember the formula exactly, 
but I remember the way in which it is got, and that to 
me is far more valuable." 

One of the greatest drudgeries, in the form of tasks, 
is committing arithmetical tables to memory. But even 
here, if the memory is aided by reasoning, the drudgery 
of the task is very much lessened. Thus, for instance, 
in learning the multiplication table, the child should be 
shown how to derive the successive results of the table, 
after the manner described in Tate's Principles of Arith- 
metic. 

The ideas^ rather than the words, of an author, should 
be remembered. The passage which we wish to remem- 
ber should be analyzed, and the essential ideas separated 
from the non-essential. In order to show that ideas, 
not words, are the great things to be remembered, the 
teacher should explain to his pupils how the same ideas 
may be expressed in different forms of language. Prob- 
lems in arithmetic afford excellent illustrations of this: 
let us suppose the following question to be proposed by 
a master to his pupils: — 

Question. A draper paid eight pounds ten shillings 
for six pieces of fine linen, containing eighty yards; how 
much should he pay for twenty-five yjnds of the same 
kind of linen ? 

Or thus in other words: — 

Question. IIovv much should a draper ]>ay for twenty- 
five yards of fine linen, allowing that he had paid eight 
pounds ten shillings for eighty yards of it? 

"Plere," (we may suppose the master to say to his 
pupils), *' we must first writedown an abstract of the 
data, or things given, necessary for solving the question, 
or, in other words, we must separate the essential data 
from the non-essential. Now the nun)ber of pieces is 
not necessary for the solution of the question, because the 



KKSEMBLANCK AND CON illAS'J . I 8.S 

ineasure of the whole is given, and the cost required is 
for a certain number of yards, without any regard to the 
number of pieces. Tlie essential data of the question are 
as follows: — 

"The cost of 80 yards is 8^. and 10«. ; the cost of 25 yards 
is required. Having made this abstract of the question, 
we may now go on with the solution," &e. 

4. Associations of resemblance and contrast are great helps to 
the memory. 

This princi|)le of association may be used witli ad- 
vantage in almost every branch of instruct ion. In geog- 
raphy, the pupil should contrast different regions of 
the globe with each other, or, it may be, trace their 
various ])rominent points of resemblance as to form, 
climate, population, <fec. The same course should be 
pursued in history, divinity, arithmetic, chemistry, and 
other branches of natural philosophy, &c. The teacher 
should classify, for the use of his pupils, the subjects 
which are most eligible for being viewed in contrast or 
resemblance, as the case may be. The following brief 
forms of classification will sufficiently indicate the nature 
of the method i)roposed. 

Geography. 

Subjects of contrast. The old world and the new 
world;* the two hemispheres;* the frigid and torrid 
zones— climate, vegetable productions, &c. ; Russia and 
Switzerland; Spain and England; the Andes and the 
Cheviots; the Amazon and the Thames; London and 
Paris;* Lancashire and Devonshire; eastern and 
western coasts of continents; temperature of the land 
and temperature of the ocean; inundations ol" Siberian 
rivers with inundations of tropical rivers; the Hindoos 
and the Russians; the Llanos of South America in the 
dry and the wet season; the climate of New South 
Wales with the climate of Canada; the rains of the 

* The subjects marked thus are eligible for comparison as well as 
contrast. 



184 niiLOSOPUY OF education. 

torrid with those of the teinperatezone; tbe^ Esquimaux 
witk the Patagonians; Quito with the Steppes of 
Astrakhan in Southern Russia; the Highlands and 
Lowlands of Scotland; the Valley of the Mississippi 
with the Desert of Sahara; the rivers of eastern with 
the rivers of western America; Cornwall and the district 
around the Wash; &c. 

Subjects of resemblance mid comparison. Spain and 
Italy; France and England; the Thames and the Seine; 
Manchester and Lyons; Paris and Edinburgh; Glasgow 
and Manchester; Edinburgh and Dublin; Great Britain 
and Vancouver Island; Great Britain and New Zea- 
land;* the Islands of Ceylon and Madagascar; the 
gold fields of Australia with those of California; the 
water-shed between the basins of Hudson's Bay and the 
Gulf of Mexico with the water-shed between the basins 
of the Baltic and the Black and Caspian Seas; the 
Isthmus of Suez with the Isthmus of Panama ; Milford 
Haven and the Moray Firth; the Vale of Exe and the 
Vale of Eden; the Paris basin with the London basin; 
the coast of Norfolk with the opposite coast of Holland; 
Hull and Liverpool as seaports; the exports of Russia 
with the exports of Canada; the currents of the South 
Atlantic with those of the North Atlantic; &C. 

History. 

Subjects of contrast. /Xlfred the Great and Charles 
II.; Cromwell and Chailes 1.; Mary and Victoria; 
Elizabeth and Mary of Scotland; Ilenry VIII. and 
John ; the 14th century and the 19th; Cranmer and 
John Knox; Jeffries and ILile; Watt and Napoleon; 

Subjects of resemblance. William I. and Edward I. 
Charles I. and James H. ; Henry HI. and Edward III. 
Cromwell and Napoleon; Marlborough and Wellington 
Richard I. and Edw^ard VI.; William III. and Richard 
III.; Wolsey and Thomas a Becket; Bacon and New- 
ton; Blake and Nelson; Captain Cook and Columbus; 



KKSEMIJLANCE AND CONTRAST. 185 

The Scriptures. 

Subjects of contrast. Adam and Christ; Cain and 
Abel; Esau and Jacob; David and Solomon; Joshua 
and Samuel; Paul and John; Paul and Balaam; Mat- 
thew and Luke; Enoch and Judas Iscariot; Joseph and 
Moses; Samson and Gideon;* Judaism and Christian- 
ity;* &G. 

Subjects of resemblance. Moses and Christ;* Samson 
and David; Noah and Lot; Elijah and Elisha; Paul's 
conversion given in Acts, 9th chap., and in Acts, 26th 
chap.; Death of Christ as given by the four Evangel- 
ists; &c. 

Mathematical Geography and Astronomy. 

Subjects of contrast. Surface of the earth and a known 
portion of it; latitude and longitude; summer and win- 
ter; Jupiter and the Earth; the sun and the planets; 
distance of Neptune and the distance of the moon; dis- 
tance of Neptune and the distance of the nearest fixed 
stars; the sun and the moon; &c. 

Subjects of comparison. Comparative magnitudes of the 
planets; approximate numbers representing the relative 
distances of the planets from the sun; &c. 

Properties of Bodies. 

Properties in contrast. Long and short, round and an- 
gular, &c. ; hard and soft; fluid and solid; transparent 
and opaque; elastic and non-elastic; black and white; 
nutritive .and poisonous; &c. 

Properties in resemblance or comparison. Kesetnblances of 
form; degrees of hardness or softness; more or less 
transparent; resemblances of color; more or less (elastic; 
more or less nutritive; &c. 

Experimental Science. 

Subjects of contrast. Acids and alkalies; oxygen and 
hydrogen,* &c.; north and south poles of a magnet;* 



1S6 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

positive and negative electricit}- ;* reflection and refrac- 
tion; conduction and radiation; <fec. 

Subjects of resemllance. Chlorine and sulphur;* nitro- 
gen and carbonic acid;* light and heat; ebullition 
and evaporation; dew and fog; electricity and mag- 
netism; &c. 

Arithmetic and Mathematics. 

In no subject is the memory more aided by resem- 
blances and contrasts than in that of mathematics. 
Subtraction is the reverse of addition; division is the 
reverse of multiplication; and the processes of llule of 
Three may be regarded as combinations of the four ele- 
mentary operations of numbers. The analogies of the 
cylinder, cone, and sphere, are too obvious to escape 
notice: the pupil who has been shown how to derive the 
surface of the sphere from that of the cylinder will 
never forget those rules of mensuration treating of these 
three solids. 

The Alphabet. 

The dissimilar letters of the alphabet should be taught 
to children before those that are similar; for, as we have 
already shown, resemblances, in such cases, confound 
the memory of children. The child should be taught 
the Egyptian characters first, on account of their being 
the most simple form of the letters; and the master 
should draw them on a bold scale with chalk upon the 
blackboard, while he is giving his lesson. 

In order to interest the children, and help, them to 
form familiar associations, graphic names may be given 
to the different letters, descriptive of their peculiar 
forms. Thus, Q may be called the round Qj D ^^^^^ 
the round O; S '"^ pot-hook; J a walking-stick; \J a 
horse-shoe; g crooky-back; V ''^ fool's cap upside down; 
A a fool's cap with a bar through it; | a blind stroke; 
H two blind strokes with a bar between them; &c. 

While comparing the forms of different letters with 
each other, the teacher will very much aid the memory 



RESEMBLA^^CE AND CONTRAST. 187 

of the children by showing thena how one letter may be 
converted into another; thus, P is readily converted 
into B> or into P; C ^^^^ ^" 0> ^^^ t^^^" O i^^o Q; 
I into L, or into T"; | into F> ^^^^ ^^^^'^^ F '"^^^ E; ^"<^ 
so on. 

The Spelling and Meaning of Words. 

The spelling of words together which have nearly the 
same sound, but are differently spelt, such as of and ofi) 
were and where, &c., is a bad plan, on account of the re- 
semblance of the words; and the method of teaching 
spelling by columns of words alphabetically arranged is 
equally objectionable. The niceties of spelling and 
meaning should belong to a higher stage of instruction. 
Words in contrast having the same radical part are 
easily remembered; thus we have 

Words in contrast. Agree and disagree; join and dis- 
join; temperate and intemperate; humanity and inhu- 
manity; thankful and unthankful; kindness and un- 
kindness; &c. 

The following illustrations of the method of instruc- 
tion here proposed will no doubt be acceptable to many 
of our readers. 

Illustrations. 

GEOGRAPHICAL CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 
1. The Old and New World. 

The Old World. The New \Vorld. 

History ancient. History modern. 

The principal mass of the Old The New World extends from 

AVorld, Asia and Europe, extends North to South, over two-tifths of 

from East to West, over one-half of the circumference of the globe. 
the circumference of the globe. 

The mountain ranges run from The mountain ranges run from 

East to West. North to South. 

Asia — Europe — lies within the America comprehends all cli- 

torrid, north temperate, and north matic zones, and hence presents a 

frigid zones. greater variety of phenomena. 

Mountain ranges somewhat cen- The mountain range extends like 

tral. a bantf along the western border. 

Rivers of Europe small. Great water basins. Rivers and 

Lakes very large. 



188 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



Traversed by different mountain 
chains. 

Vast table lands or plateaus. The 
mountains and plateaus of Asia 
cover flve-sevenths of its surface. 

Volcanoes on the Continent. 

Coast-line of Europe very much 
indented. 



&c 



Inhabitants white, dark, black. 



Animals. Lion, Tiger, Leopard, 
Elephant, Giraffe, Cow, Crocodile, 
Nightingale, &c. 



One mountain chain, the Andes 
and Rocky Mountains. 

Vast plains which form two- 
thirds ol its surface. 

Great volcanoes on the Islands. 

Coast-line not so much indented 
as Europe, but more indented than 
Asia or Africa. 

Native inhabitants chiefly red 
men. 

Animals. American Lion, Jaguar, 
Panther, Grizzly Bear, Buffalo, Al- 
ligator, Mocking Bird, &c. 



Rescmhlances. 



l>and in two great masses,Europe 
and Africa in the West, and Asia 
in the East. 

Isthmus of Suez connects Africa 
with Europe and Asia. 

The coast-line of Europe is more 
broken or indented than that of 
Asia, and still more than that of 
Africa. 

Europe better adapted for human 
societies than Asia or Africa. 

Europe 1 mile of coast to 150 of 
surface; Africa 1 mile of coast to 
620 of surface ; Asia 1 mile of coast 
to 460 of surface. 

The direction of the land corre- 
sponds with the general direction 
of tlie mountain masses. 

The southern extremity termi- 
nates in a point directed towards 
the Southern Ocean, while they go 
widening towards the North. 

The penins\ilas have nearly all 
the same direction. 

The highest mountain in the 
Himalaya is a little more than 5 
miles above the level of the sea. 



Land in two great masses. North 
and South America. 

Isthmus of Panama connects 
North with South America. 

The coast-line of North America 
is more broken or indented than 
that of South America. 

North America better adapted 
for human societies than South 
America. 

North America 1 mile of coast to 
230 of surface; South America 1 
mile of coast to 380 of surface. 

The same as in the Old World. 



The same as in the Old World. 



The same as in the Old World. 

The highest mountain in the An- 
des is nearly .t miles above the level 
of the sea. 



EUKOPB AND Asia. 
Con(rast'<. 



Europe. 
In the highest condition of civili- 
zation and progress. 

Religion chiefly Christianity, 



Asia. 

The cradle of civilization, but 
now chiefly sunk in ignorance and 
superstition. 

Religion chiefly Mahometanlsm 
and idol-worship. 



GEOGRAPUICAL CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 



189 



Contour most varied, but its pe- 
ninsulas are not large. Indenta- 
tions in all parts, by the ocean and 
by Inland seas; thereby enjoys 1 
mile of coast for every 150 square 
miles of surface. 

The inland seas, and the ocean 
lying between the indentations, 
form nearly one-half of its surface. 

Open to inland navigation. 
Lies between the other portions 
of the Old World and America. 
Best adapted for human societies. 

Its physical features are highly 
diversified. 

Broken in relief by mountains 
and valleys. The highest moun- 
tains do not exceed 3 miles in 
height. Extensive plains fresh 
with vegetation. 

Its numerous peninsulas form 

bout one-third of its surface. 

Like a perfect tree, with numer- 
ous spreading branches, clothed 
with luxuriant foliage. 

Rivers numerous, but not large. 

Climate chiefly temperate. Winds 
and rains variable. 



All the vegetables essential to 
life grow in almost every portion. 

Wild animals are not numerous. 

Domesticated animals very nu- 
merous. 

Neither flowers nor birds have 
much variety or brilliancy of color; 
but the flowers refresh us with 
their scent, and the birds delight 
us with their song. 

Rich in minerals. 



Contour more uniform. Has vast 
peninsulas on its eastern and 
southern coasts, but the indenta- 
tions of the coast-line are not so 
numerous; it in consequence only 
possesses 1 mile of coast for every 
460 square miles of surface. 

In spite of the depth of the inden- 
tations, there remains a great pre- 
ponderating mass of unbroken land 
towards the centre. 

Open only at its margins. 

Farthest removed from the New 
World. 

Vast portions scarcely accessible 
to commerce. 

• All its physical features are on a 
gigantic scale. 

Great mountains nearly double 
the height of those in Europe. 
Vast plateaus and deserts. 



Its vast peninsulas only form 
one-fifth of its surface. 

Like a vast trunk, with a few 
large branches, with a scanty foli- 
age. 

Rivers large, but not numerous. 

Burning heats in its equatorial 

{)ortions, and extremes of cold in 
ts northern regions. Subject to 
tropical winds and rains. 

Exuberant vegetation in its trop- 
ical portions, and sterility in the 
frozen tracts of Siberia. 

Wild animals exceedingly nu- 
merous. 

Domesticated animals not nu- 
merous. 

In the tropical regIons,the flowers 
and birds have the most brilliant 
colors; but the flowers have little 
scent, and the birds have no song. 

Poor in minerals. 



3. England and Spain. 
Contrasts, 



England. Spain. 

Forms the greater portion of an Forms the chief portion of a 
i Aland. peninsula. 



190 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



For the most part level, yet 
beautifully diversined with hills, 
valleys, and plains. 

The elevation of the highest 
mountain, Scaw Fell, in Cumber- 
land, is only a little more than half 
a mile. 

The rivers are numerous, and 
many of them are navigable for a 
considerable distance into the in- 
terior. 

The climate is damp and change- 
able. 

Grows .all kinds of grain, &c., but 
the climate is too cold for the vine. 

Kich in coal, and also in iron, 
copper, and lead ores. 

The religion is Protestantism. 

Has advanced very rapidly since 
the Reformation. 

The population of the capital is 
upwards of four millions. 

The work-shop of the world. A 
land of steam-engines, railways, 
and manufactures. 

The greatest country in the 
world. 

Possesses the most perfect polit- 
ical institutions. 

The people are pious, industri- 
ous, generous, and brave. 

Its colonies flourish in every part 
of the globe. 

Stands foremost in the ranks of 
modern science and art. 

Famed for her philosophers, 
poets, statesmen, and heroes. 

The greatest maritime power in 
the world's history. 



Mountainous ; a considerable por- 
tion forms a plateau. 

The elevation of the highest 
point of the Pyrenees is about 2V4 
miles. 

The rivers are not numerous, and 
none of them can be said to be 
navigable. 

The climate is generally warm 
and salubrious. 

Fine agricultural country. Grows 
grapes and oranges. 

No coal. 



The religion is Romanism. 

Has retrograded since the period 
of the Reformation. 

The population of Madrid, the 
capital, is only one eleventh that 
of London. 

Cannot supply its own people 
with manufactured goods. 

One of the most contemptible 
states in civilized Europe. 

A prey to civil discords ; — no 
protection to life or property. 

The people are bigoted, indolent, 
treacherous, and base. 

Its colonies are dismembered and 
enfeebled. 

Has done nothing to advance 
humanity. 

Possesses no name associated 
with greatness. 

Her ships are barely sufficient for 
her own limited commerce. 



HISTORICAL CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 
1. Alfred the Great and Charles II. 



Contrads. 



Alfred the Great. 
The glory of his country. Amid 
dangers and toil, devoted himself 
to his country. 

The savior of his country. 
Established just and merciful 
laws. 



Charles II. 

A disgrace to humanity. After 
much bloodshed, he became king, 
and then devoted his country to 
himself. 

Sold his country to France. 

Violated the rights and privileges 
of his people. 



SCRIPTURE CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 



191 



A true patriot. Laid the founda- 
tion of the future greatness of his 
country. Said that "The English 
ought to be as free as their own 
thoughts." 

Rewarded his friends and concil- 
iated his enemies. Temperate, 
frugal, studious, prudent and pious. 
Burnt the cakes when thinking of 
his country. Divided his time. 
Converted his enemies to Christi- 
anity. 

Beloved and revered during his 
life, and almost idolized after his 
death. 



Cared only for having the name 
and privilege of a king. Content If 
the nation would only last his time. 



Ungrateful to his friends, and 
heedless of his enemies. Sensual, 
extravagant, idle, thoughtless and 
profuse. 



Hated and despised during his 
life, and at his death the dogs were 
permitted to lick his blood. 



2. Mary and Victoria. 



Gontrasts. 



Mary. 



Despotic and cruel. Bigoted and 
Intolerant. Morose and miserable. 
A blind Romanist. 
Died childless. 

A friend of ignorance and super- 
stition. 

Lived in an age of darkness and 
Ignorance. 

An age of thumbscrews, racks, 
and other instruments of torture. 



Victoria. 

Liberal and benevolent. Pious 
and tolerant. Cheerful and happy. 

An enlightened Protestant. 

Lives the mother of a large fam- 
ily. 

A promoter of education and re- 
ligion. 

Lives in an age of knowledge and 
progress. 

An age of science, of steam en- 
gines, and of all the arts which add 
to human happiness. 



SCRIPTURE CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 
1. Cain and Abel. 



Contrasts. 



Cain. 

Cain was the first born. A tiller 
of the ground. 

Was wicked. 

Offered to God the fruit of the 
ground. 

His offerings were not accepted 
by God. 

Slew his brother. 

The first murderer. Branded 
with God's curse. 
Cain became a vagabond. 

Cain had children. 



Abel. 

Abel was the first that died. A 
keeper of sheep. 

Was righteous. 

Offered to God the firstlings of 
his flocks. 

His offerings were accepted by 
God. 

The voice of his blood cried unto 
the Lord from the ground. 

Enjoyed God's favor. 

Abel died in the hope of salva- 
tion. 
Abel died childless. 



192 



PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



2. MOSKS AND CHKIST. 

Resemhlances. 



Moses. 

Delivered the Israelites from the 
bondage of the Egyptians. 

The founder of the ceremonial 
dispensation. The founder of Ju- 
daism. 

Delivered to man the ten com- 
mandments. 

Led the Israelites through the 
wilderness. 

Moses lifted up the brazen ser- 
pent In the wilderness, so that 
those who looked upon it might be 
healed of the bites of the fiery ser- 
pents. 

Moses conducted the Israelites 
towards the land of Canaan, the 
promised land flowing with milk 
and honey. 



Christ. 

Delivered us from the bondage of 
sin. 

The founder of the New Testa- 
ment dispensation. The founder of 
Christianity. 

Gave to man the law of faith. 

Said to His followers, •• Lo, I am 
with you, even unto the end of the 
world." 

Christ ottered up Himself upon 
the cross as a sacrifice for the sins 
of man, so that those who look upon 
Him may be healed of the leprosy 
of sin and corruption. 

Christ leads His people to the 
heavenly Canaan. 



3. Adam axd Chrk 



Contrasts. 



Adam. 
Adam was created. 



Through Adam we lost a terres- 
trial paradise. 
Adam broke the law. 

By Adam's sin, death came into 
the world— death temporal as well 
as spiritual. 

In Adam all die. 

Through Adam sin came into the 
world. 

Through Adam man was ren- 
dered liable to God's wrath and 
curse. 

Through Adam we are the ser- 
vants of the devil. 

Through Adam disease and pain 
entered the world. 



Adam, as the first man, is our 
natural lather. 
Adam's death was not propitia- 



Christ. 

Christ, as the Son of God, existed 
from all Eternity, and was the Cre- 
ator of all things. 

Through Christ we shall gain a 
celestial paradise. 

Christ fulfilled the law and made 
it honorable. 

By the death of Christ, we shall 
be restored to life. 

In Christ all shall be made alive. 

Through Christ we shall be 
clothed with righteousness. 

Through Christ man is restored 
to God's favor. 

Through Christ we become the 
servants of God. 

Through His stripes we are 
healed. He has a fellow-feeling in 
all our pains, and pleads our cause 
at God's right hand. 

Christ Is the spiritual father of all 
those who trust in Him. 

Christ's death was an atonement 



80BIPTUKK KESKMBLANCE8 AND OOJ^TUA8T8. 193 

tory, forhe suffered death on ac- for the sinsof theworld.forHehad 
count of his own sin. no sin, neither was guile found in 

His mouth. 
Through Adam we are called Through Christ salvation comes 

upon to fuUill the works c»f the law. by faith and not by works. 

5. To improve the memory we should associate important 
ideas with thing s^ scenes y and events. JJ'^e should give graphic 
pictures of important scenes and events. 

Maps, useful and scientific pictures, scripture texts, 
iind important school rules, should be hung in the school- 
room. These objects, being kept before the eye,suggest 
important trains of association. After a time such things, 
no doubt, fail to arrest the attention; but, in order to 
avoid this consequence,they should be removed at stated 
periods, and fresh ones put in their place, or they may 
simply be taken away for a time and then replaced. The 
teacher will at once see the value of having such rules 
as the following hung up in the school-room : — 1. A suit- 
able place for everything, and everything in its place; 
2. A proper time for everything, and everything in its 
time; 3. A distinct name for everything,and everything 
called by its name; 4. A certain use for everything, and 
everything put to its use; 5. Try to improve at school 
every day; 6. Guard against vulgar language; V. Pray 
daily to God, and praise His holy name. The rules put 
up by the master should always have a relation to the 
existing circumstances: thus, for example, during the 
fruit season the following would be liighly appropriate 
— " Never eat sour or unripe fruit." 

Teachers cannot be too strongly impressed with the 
fact that our school-day associations exist in the mind 
to the latest period of our existence. 

" The School's lone porch, with reverend mosses grey, 
Just tells the pensive pilgrim where it lay. 
Mute is the bell that rung at peep of dawn. 
Quickening my truant feet across the lawn ; 
Unheard the shout that rent the noontide air. 
When the slow dial gave a pause to care. 
Up springs, at every step, to claim a tear. 
Some little friendship formed and cherished here ; 
And not the lightest leaf, but trembling teems 
With golden visions and romantic dreams ! " 



194 PHILOSOPHr OF EDUCATION. 

Geography should be taught in coimectioii with history. 
No teacher should give a lesson on the geography of a 
country without associating the leading geographical 
facts with the most remarkable events ot its history, or 
with its existing resources of trade and wealth. He should 
also introduce historical and picturesque descriptions of 
the great cities of the country of which he treats. Great 
cities constitute the identity of a people: — their past 
history is sculptured on their monuments, churches, and 
public buildings; — their existing industry, and real 
sources of wealth and power, are exhibited in their ma- 
chinery, their factories, their shipping, and their market- 
places or thoroughfares, where the products of nature 
and art are bought and sold; — their intellectual, moral 
and political tendencies may be seen in the tastes, habits, 
and pursuits of the people that crowd their public ren- 
dezvous; for the ceaseless struggles of opinions,passions, 
and interests which here manifest themselves, may be 
regarded as the throbbings of the great heart of society, 
which extend themselves,as certainly as by the action of 
an hydraulic law, to the utmost extremities of the living 
mass. 

The events of scripture history should be taught in 
connection with the map of Palestine. In like manner, 
history should be taught in connection with geography. 
Local associations give vividness and power to the re- 
membrance of events. 

" And hence the charm historic scenes impart: 
Hence Tiber awes, and Avon melts the heart." 

A man w^ho has looked upon the field of Bannockburn, 
where the devoted bands of Scottish patriots withstood 
the onslaught of the mighty host of their oppressor, will 
never forget the historical events connected with the 
battle. " That man," says Johnson, " is little to be envied, 
whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of 
Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among 
the ruins of lona." Who can look on the statue of Henri 
IV., standing on Pont-Neuf, which crosses the Seine in 



GEOGEAFHY SHOULD BE ILLUSTKATED BY HISTORY. 195 

the heart of Paris,witbout having the remarkable events 
of this chivalrous monarch's life more deeply impressed 
upon his memory ? The birth-places or the sepulchres 
of great men form some of our most remarkable links of 
association. 

'* 'Twas ever thus. As now at Virgil's tomb 
We bless the shade and bid the verdure bloom ; 
So Tully paused, amid the wrecks of Time, 
On the rude stone to trace the truth sublime, 
When at his feet, in honored dust disclosed, 
The immortal Sage of Syracuse reposed." 

Fiduring out scenes. Children are passionately fond 
of picturesjwhether real or imaginary, whether addressed 
to the outward or to the inward sense of vision. This 
passion constitutes one of the most unconquerable in- 
stincts of our nature: but why should we wish to con- 
quer it? none but antiquated governesses or old maiden 
ladies would do such violence to our happy nature. 

**'Twas here, at eve, we formed our fairy ring; 
And Fancy fluttered on her wildest wing. 
Giants and genii chained each wondering ear; 
And orphan sorrows drew the ready tear. 
Oft with the babes we wandered in the wood, 
Or viewed the forest feats of Robin Hood: 
Oft fancy-led, at midnight's fearful hour, 
With startling step we scaled the lonely tower, 
O'er infant innocence to hang and weep, 
Murdered by ruffian hands, when smiling in its sleep." 

The gallery lessons given to children should contain 
pictures addressed to the imagination. This mode of 
instruction not only secures their attention by gratifying 
their intellectual instincts, but also supplies their recol- 
lective faculty with appropriate links of association. The 
picturing style of teaching gives life and vivacity to a 
class; whereas the dull, dry, sermonizing style of giving 
a lesson is better than any soporific to be found in the 
Pharmacopoeia. The tick-tick of the clock in our room 
is rarely heard: so it is with the repetition of certain 
set forms of words: the sounds grow familiar to our 



196 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

ears; and the ideas, however sacred, like an oft-told 
tale, cease to make any impression on our minds. 

This is especially the case with respect to scripture 
reading. The plan of picturing out the scenes and 
events connected with a passage of scripture that may 
have been read, is eminently calculated to produce the 
most vivid and lasting impressions on the minds of 
children. 

In order to illustrate this plan of teaching, let us sup- 
pose the first three verses of the sixth chapter of St, 
John to have been read by the master to his pupils. 
How few of the children would trouble themselves at all 
about the familiar sounds that had fallen upon their 
ears! and of the few who had given their attention to 
the matter, how many of them could form any clear 
conception of the ideas intended to be conveyed ? A 
skilful teacher, it is true, might, by the usual method of 
interrogation, succeed in making the children compre- 
hend the subject-matter of the verses; but how long 
would they retain the ideas thus conveyed to them? 
how many of them would be able to answer the questions 
that might be put to them by the master on the fol- 
lowing day ? 

But now suppose that the master could, by some 
magic power, show to his pupils the real scene which 
these verses describe.* Suppose he could go back 
through the eighteen hundred years which have elapsed 
since these events occurred, and taking his pupils to 
some elevation in the romantic scenery of Palestine, 
from which they might overlook the country of Galilee, 
show them all that this chapter describes. 

" Do you see," be might say, " that wide sea which 
spreads out beneath us, and occupies the whole extent 
of the valley? That is the sea of Tiberias; it is also 
called the sea of Galilee. All this country which spreads 
around it is Galilee. Those distant mountains are in 



* This picture is mainly taken from Abbott's " Young Chris- 
tian. " 



PICTURING OUT SCENES. 197 

Galilee, and that beautiful wood which skirts the shore 
is a Galilean forest." 

" Why is it called the sea of Tiberias ? " a child might 
ask. 

" Do you see at the foot of that hill, on the opposite 
shore of the lake, a small town ? It extends along the 
margin of the water for a considerable distance. That 
is Tiberias, and the lake sometimes takes the name of 
that town. 

"But look! Do you see that small boat coming 
round a point of land which juts out beautifully from 
this side of the lake ? It is slowly making its way across 
the water; we can almost hear the splashing of the oars. 
It contains the Savior and some of His disciples. They 
are steering towards Tiberias: now they approach the 
shore; they stop at the landing, and the Savior, followed 
by His disciples, walks up the shore. 

" Some sick person is brought to the Savior to be 
healed. Another and another is brought. A crowd 
collects around Him. He retreats slowly up the rising 
ground, and, after a little time. He take His place upon 
an elevated spot,where He can overlook and address the 
throng." 

If teachers could accustom themselves to the habit of 
drawing pictures like this, how strong and how lasting 
would be the impression made on the minds of their pupils! 
Years, and perhaps the whole of life itself, would not 
obliterate the impression. Even this faint description, 
though it brings nothing new to the mind, will make a 
much stronger and more lasting impression than merely 
reading the narration would do. And what is the 
reason ? Why, it is only because we have endeavored 
to lead you to picture this scene to your minds, to con- 
ceive of it strongly and clearly. Now any teacher can 
do this for himself,in regard to any passage of scripture. 
It is not necessary that we should go on and delineate in 
this manner the whole of the account. Each teacher 
can, if he will task his imagination, picture for himself 
the scenes which the Bible describes. And if he does 



198 PHILOSOPHY OP EDrCATION. 

bring his intellect and his powers of conception to the 
work, and read not merely to repeat formally and coldly 
sounds already familiar, but to bring vivid and clear 
conceptions to his mind of all which is represented there, 
he will be interested himself and will also interest his 
pupils. He will find new and striking scenes con- 
tinually coming up to view, and will be surprised at the 
novelty and interest which this simple and easy effort 
will throw over those very portions of the Bible with 
which the ear has become most completely familiar. 

6. Frivolous, unnatural^ or unpleasant associations should he 
avoided. Fear enfeebles the memory , and terror paralyzes it. 

Our associations should always be in keeping with the 
dignity of the subject. The unnatural and trifling modea 
of association adopted by the advocates of systems of 
MNEMONICS, are unworthy the notice of intellectual 
teachers of youth. If any artificial system of memory 
is necessary, it should be constructed on the principle of 
the chemical nomenclature, which is really one of the 
best systems of memoria technica that ever has been 
invented. 

The plan of giving tasks as punishments cannot be too 
strongly deprecated: it invests learning with painful 
associations, and most effectually engenders a sullen and 
wilful habit of inattention. 

Fear enfeebles the memory, by producing tremor and 
nervous debility. How can a boy exercise his memory 
when the terrors of tbe rod are placed before him ? 
How can the intellectual faculties exercise themselves 
freely or vigorously when the soul is manacled ? When 
the axe of the executioner is about to fall upon the 
doomed wretch, can you expect him to admire the sur- 
rounding scenery, or to observe the various passions 
pictured on the faces of the eager crowd ? 

" Come here, you dunce," says the pedagogue to his 
task-ridden pupil — "Come here, — well now, what 
dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy Belief ? " 
To which the boy with trembling and hesitation answers 



ENFEEBLING INTLUENCE OP FEAR. 199 

—"First I learn ." "Well, what do you learn?" 

To which the boy, rendered stupid by fear, replies— = 
"Please, sir, I don't know." " You saucy blockhead — - 
there, take that, and that, — now you stand there, and 
never move from the spot until you have committed the 
whole of the question, word for word, to memory. In an 
instant give over crying, or 1 shall give you something 
to cry for, — what are you sobbing for?" "Please, sir, 
— I cannot — help — it." "You cannot help — saucy 
again — I'll make you help it, — there — there — and 
there — now you will remember that the rod bites, if 
you cannot remember your task." True, the boy will 
probably remember to the day of his death that he wa» 
cruelly thrashed because he could not repeat the answer 
to the question on the Articles of Belief. 

A wise teacher, in the place of thrashing his dull 
pupil, would assist him in completing his task, by first 
impressing the ideas contained in it on his memory. Af- 
ter having read the answer twice or thrice over, he 
might proceed as follows: "The answer to this question 
contains three parts. The first relates to God the Father; 
the second to God the Son; and the third to God the 
Holy Ghost. Let us now break down the ideas con- 
tained in the first part. In whom have we to believe ? " 
" In God the Father." " What is God here said to be ?" 
" He is said to be the Father." " What have you to do 
in reference to God the Father ?" " I have to believe in 
Him." " What did God the Father do for you ?" "He 
made me." " What did He make besides ?" " He made 
all the world." 

Proceeding in this way, the judicious teacher might 
analyze the whole of the answer; after this is done, the 
pupil would probably find little difficulty in committing 
it to memory. 

7. The memory should he cultivated in relation to common 
things and everyday events. 

The most ordinary and trifling occurrences may be 
made a source of intellectual improvement: as the habits 
of animals, or the manners of a people; the construction 



200 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

of articles of furniture and clothing; the structure of a 
feather, a leaf, or a flower; the mode of building houses, 
or the making of a pin; and so on. 

The difference of information found amongst men 
does not depend so much upon the number of sights 
which they have witnessed, as upon the the remembrance 
of the ideas which those sights are calculated to sug- 
gest. Mr. S. never goes on a journey, no matter how 
short, without being able to amuse his family by relating 
to them some incident, or to describe to them something 
new. "I don't know how it is," says Mr. B., w^ho had 
travelled over the world for the mere sake of locomo- 
tion, " that my friend Mr. S. finds so much to talk 
about. He cannot go a journey of a dozen miles without 
having had adventures enough to serve a man for a life- 
time; for my part, I have visited most of the great cities 
in the world, but I can hardly get people to listen to my 
stories." The fact is, Mr. S. was an observing man, and 
never allowed an opportunity to slip without storing his 
memory with useful facts; with him every new event 
became the nucleus of a new series of thoughts. 

8. Imtruction sliould he given on a regular and connected 



Every lesson should have its proper time assigned to 
it, and it should always be given at that time. A sub- 
ject should never be taught by fits and starts; for noth- 
ing so much enfeebles the recollection as su<lden leaps 
from one branch of knowledge to another. When the 
foundations of one science are fairly laid, then another 
one may be commenced; but a schoolmaster, like the 
blacksmith, should never have too many irons in the 
fire. " Nothing," says Abercrombie, "appears to con- 
tribute more to progress in any intellectual pursuit than 
the practice of keeping one subject habitually before the 
mind, and of daily contributing something tow^ards the 
prosecution of it." Important subjects of knowledge, 
having thus had time for their roots to spread them- 
selves in the soil, become, as it were, incorporated with 
the mind itself. 



IMPORTANCE OF REGULA.E INSTfiUCTION. 201 



II. The memory is strengthened hy all those exercises which 
tend to cultivate the habit of attention. 

We have already explained some of the most impor- 
tant artifices which may be employed in the cultivation 
of the habit of attention; the following, however, de- 
serve especial notice in relation to the faculty of recol- 
lection. 

1. Interrogate your pupils upon tchat they may have read. 

2. Get your pupils to put questions to each other at the end of 
a lesson ; and also to talk together^ after school hourSj about the 
subjects of the day''s instruction. 

3. The pupils should writer in their own language, 
what is most important for them to remember. 

These notes should be neatly and methodically writ- 
ten — they should not be mere extracts from books, or 
verbatim reports of lessons. 

4. Make your pupils familiar with important principles and 
results. 

It is not sufficient for your pupils simply to remember 
important principles and results, — they should remember 
them perfectly, that is, in such a way that it would be 
impossible ever to forget them, 

"James," a teacher might say to his pupil, "have you 
learnt the fourth line of your multiplication table yet ?** 
"Yes, sir, — I said it to you yesterday." "It is true, 
ray boy, you said it, but it was done with some hesita- 
tion. You must learn it so thoroughly that nothing caQ 
put you out when you are called upon to repeat it. Now 
you go on with the fourth line, while I repeat the fifth, 
and we shall see whether you put me out, or I put you 
out." 

As a matter of course, James is put out; whereupon 
the teacher might go on to say, — "Now I have pnt you 
out." " Well, sir, but I could have said it correctly if 
you *had not jarred with me." " Exactly so. But do 
you think that I could put you out in repeating the 
alphabet ? — Let us try." 

" Here, you see, I cannot put you out, because you 



202 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

have learnt the alphabet perfectly. Now it is equally 
important that you should learn the multiplication table 
perfectly." 



CHAP. V. 

CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, CONTINUED.- ON 'J HE CUL- 
TIVATION OF IMAGINATION AND TASTE. 

Theee is no faculty of the mind which requires more 
careful culture than that of imagination. When prop- 
erly regulated and directed, it may be made to contrib- 
ute to the development of all that is noble and estima- 
ble in our nature. It forms an essential element of 
inventive genius. By imagination we are enabled, as 
it were, to place ourselves in the situation of others, and 
to sympathize with them in their distress, or to partici- 
pate in their sorrows. A man deficient in imagination, 
however estimable he may be in his general conduct, is 
usually unsocial, illiberal, and selfish. On the other 
hand, a person with a wild, misguided imagination, oc- 
cupies his mind in the pursuit of idle dreams and delu- 
sions, to the neglect of all those pursuits which are cal- 
culated to ennoble a rational being. The imagination 
should always be kept under the control of reason, and 
it should never be allowed to wander too long at discre- 
tion amid beautiful and fallacious scenes, so as to 
impair the judgment. The unrestrained indulgence of 
imagination often exercises an enfeebling influence over 
the other powers of the intellect: but a properly regu- 
lated imagination gives strength to all the other facul- 
ties, and adds a charm to existence. 

" His the city's pomp: 
The rural honors his. Whate'er adorns 
The princely dome, the column, or the arch, 
The breathing marbles, or the sculptured gold. 
Beyond the proud possessor's narrow claim, 
His tuneful breast enjoys. For him, the Spring 



CtTLTIVATION OF IMAGINATION AND TASTE. 203 

Distils her dews, and from the silken gem 
Its lucid leaves unfolds: for him, the hand 
Of Autumn tinges every fertile branch 
With blooming gold, and blushes like the morn. 
Each passing hour sheds tribute from her wings; 
And still new beauties meet his lonely walk, 
And loves unfelt attract him. Not a breeze 
Flies o'er the meadow — not a cloud imbibes 
The setting Sun's effulgence — not a strain 
From all the tenants of the warbling shade 
Ascends, but whence his bosom can partake 
Fresh pleasure, unreproved." 

To cultivate the imagination, we should exercise it on 
legitimate objects, and this should be done in harmony 
with the development of the other powers of the mind. 
The imagination is exercised — (1) by fictitious narra- 
tives; (2) by compositions of the poet and the orator, 
addressed to the passions; (3) by sallies of wit and hu- 
mor; (4) by works of art addressed to the sense of the 
beautiful. 

The man who excels in all, or any, of these produc- 
tion of imagination, is said to have an inventive genius; 
but it is obvious that this must depend quite as much 
upon the strength of the faculty of reason as upon that 
of imagination. Geometers and scientific discoverers 
are often much indebted to the fertility of their imag- 
ination. Persons of extraordinary power of imagination 
are not unfrequently deficient in judgment. Why? 
Certainly not from any want of harmony between these 
faculties, but rather from the want of a proper educa- 
tion; for a man of philosophic intellect must have a 
Tigorous imagination : the genius of the poet and that 
of the mathematician are more nearly allied than people 
generally suppose. 

I. The picturing style of teaching (described in relation to 
the cultivation of memory) is one of the lest means of devel- 
oping the imagination of children. 

Very few of our works of imagination are simple 
enough for the comprehension of a child, — the sen- 



204: PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

tences in them are too long and involved, and the figures 
and analogical phrases are too far beyond the range of 
his experience. We cannot expect authors (who gener- 
ally care more for their own fame than for the improve- 
ment of their readers) to put in print all the little and 
apparently trifling things which they would say to a 
child. An experienced teacher, on the other hand, nat- 
urally clothes his ideas in short, pithy sentences, and 
draws his illustrations and figures of speech from the 
things with which his pupils are most familiar: he will 
frequently analyze the figures or analogies which he 
employs, so as to render their appositeness more vivid 
and apparent, and to show the difference between a 
metaphor and an analogical phrase; and above all things, 
he will constantly endeavor to inspire his pupils with a 
love of nature, and to kindle within them the sentiment 
of beauty. When he has occasion to call the attention 
of his pupils to the aspect of the morning sky, he speaks 
of the " blushing morn," or, it may be, " the rosy 
morn"; if anything comes suddenly into his mind, it 
" flashes " upon him; if he draws a picture of an exten- 
sive forest, he speaks of "the trackless woods"; if he 
makes a comparison between imagination and reason, he 
speaks of fancy's flash and reason's ray. He speaks of 
reason as the rudder of the soul, which guides us through 
the stormy sea of life; of hope as the anchor of the soul; 
of religion as the great pillar of the state; of remorse as 
the never-dying worm which gnaws the vitals of its vic- 
tim; of crime as a loathsome monster, and virtue as a 
lovely angel clothed in light; of the darkness of ignorance, 
and the light of knowledge; of old age as the autumn of 
life, when all that is lovely withers and decays; of the 
whisper of the breeze, and the roar of the tempest. 

II. The imagination of children is cultivated hy simple 
pieces of poetry^ or hy prose compositions of taste and feel- 
ing. 

Simple good poetry delights the ear of children, at the 
same time that it elevates their characters; and even the 



CULTIVATION OF IMAGINATION^ AND TASTK. 205 

harmony of elegant prose, il' not beyond their compre- 
hension, will melt their tender souls. The best books 
for children are those which contain simple phrases of 
beauty, which turn on figures that depend on points of 
harmony or analogy between the physical and the moral 
world. " Pilgrim's Progress " is one of the best books 
for children of ten or twelve years of age. Children 
should never be allowed to read poetry which they 
cannot understand, far less to commit it to memory. 
How matter-of-fact a poetical conception becomes after 
it has been profaned, day after day, by senseless repe- 
titions! How many of our intellectual pleasures have 
been marred, by our having had the language of poetry 
impressed upon our memories at a time when we could 
not realize its import! Rhetorical readings, in schools, 
are something like the exbibitions of the common phan- 
tasmagoria — things to laugh at. Teachers commit a 
gross mistake w^hen they attempt to bring the higher 
faculty of imagination too soon into play; just in the 
same way as many persons lose at chess by moving their 
queen too early in the 'game. Every faculty must be 
fully developed before the infant soul can spread its 
wings and fly towards the higher heaven of poetry. 
True poetry is the holy of holies of the intellectual tab- 
ernacle, into which no one should enter until all his 
faculties are matured and consecrated. 

III. Fables and simple tales are amongst the best means of 
cultivating the imagination of children. 

Children must romance, whether we permit them or 
not, — it is one of the most uncontrollable laws of human 
nature. Good fables and tales always contain instruc- 
tion, — they turn facts into poetry, and instruct the 
reason through the imagination. Some little stories 
contain, in an unobtrusive form, more practical wisdom 
than many learned homilies. Who would wish to 
forget the story about the fox and the grapes; or the 
dog and the shadow; or the shepherd boy and the wolf; 
or the dog in the manger; or the cock and the diamond; 



206 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

or the lion aud the mouse; and so on ? Nothing affords 
children a more sparkling entertainment, than to tisten 
to the parley between the lion and the ass, or between 
the fox and the crow; while each of them adheres to 
its character with dramatic strictness, each, at the same 
time, personates some moral quality. The perception 
of this analogy leads, in the most pleasurable manner, 
to the cultivation of abstraction and reason. 

What child does not read the Arabian Nights' Enter- 
tainments with the most lively emotions? Children 
like to transport themselves, on the wings of imagination, 
from the cold and sober realities of our northern clime 
to the warm and romantic scenes of oriental climes, 
with their glitering caverns and golden palaces, their 
genii and their wonderful lamps and rings, their 
brilliant skies and gorgeous flowers. 

" Let Fiction come, upon her vagrant wings 
Wafting ten thousand colors through the air, 
While, by the glances of her magic eye, 
She bends and shifts at will, through countless forms. 
Her wild creation." 

Good tales contain nothing really deceptive; for a 
child, with a properly regulated mind, knows perfectly 
well when he passes the boundary line which separates 
the region of fiction from that of facts. The very worst 
tales are those which adhere too rigidly to every-day 
scenes and events, and inculcate religion and morality 
with all the mock solemnity of a theological primer. 
Those very pious, truthful, sermonizing tales (such as 
Peter Parley's) outrage the patience of children, and 
really defeat the end which they have in view. How 
can the soul of a child approach its God, clothed in 
the garb of fiction! 

None of our modern novels are sufficiently adapted to 
the juvenile mind; they are too long; their stories, for 
the most part, are neither simple enough, nor romantic 
enough; and besides, they generally pre-suppose a 
knowledge of human nature and character which boys 
below fourteen years of age cannot possibly possess. 



CULTIVATION OF IMAGINATION AND TASTE. 207: 

We should like to see a few novelettes written after the 
fashion of Waverly, or The Last of the Mohicans, but 
rendered somewhat more infantine in the characters 
described. 

No tale should do any unnecessary violence to the 
feelings and sympathies of children: if the story tells of 
hideous wild beasts in pursuit of some innocent little child, 
they should always at last meet with a proper punish- 
ment: or if it describes dismal dungeons or deep caverns, 
some way out of them should always be found, leading 
to celestial scenes of loveliness and enjoyment; or if it 
relates the adventures, by sea and land, of some tameless 
being, he should always at last find a quiet and happy 
home. We do not appear to have made any advance in 
this kind of literature, at least for the last quarter of a 
century. Hans Andersen's fairy stories of the Flying 
Trunk, the Wild Swans, &c., are very much inferior to 
our old oriental tales: what modern story of adventures 
can be placed by the side of our old and dear friend, 
Robinson Crusoe ? 

IV. The sentiment of the heautiful, in children^ should be cul- 
tivated hy drawing and music. 

Children should be taught drawing and music, almost 
as soon as they can speak. They should be early led to 
copy the most beautiful forms, and to sing the sweetest 
songs. Whatever is insipid, or deformed, should never 
be placed before them for imitation. The sentiment of 
taste should be constantly cultivated, by directing their 
attention to whatever is captivating in nature, or 
beautiful in art. The cultivation of taste not only affords 
us a refined source of pleasure, but also, somehow or 
other, gives force and acuteness to the moral sense. 



208 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



CHAP. YI. 



CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, CONTINUED-ON THE CULTIVA- 
TION OF REASON AND JUDGMENT. 

Reasoi^ is that raeutal faculty whereby we ditstinguish 
truth from falsehood. When we duly exercise this 
faculty, we compare facts with facts, and events with 
events, and from their relations and bearings we deduce 
certain conclusions. We say that a man possesses a 
sound judgment, when he judges correctly of the relations 
of facts, events, or circumstances, and gives to each its 
due amount of influence in the conclusions, or deductions, 
which he makes. Reason is, in a certain sense, opposed 
to imagination, inasmuch as it deals solely with facts and 
realities. Reason is distinguished from simple memory, 
by which facts or events are merely connected by the 
laws of association, without any regard to their natural 
or philosophical relation. Reason, in a well regulated 
mind, holds the mastery of all the other faculties: it 
gives strength and precision to every one of them, and 
harmonizes and regulates their operations as a whole; 
as we have already shown, it especially improves the 
memory, and checks any unhealthful exuberance of im- 
agination. No faculty in our nature is more susceptible 
of cultivation than reason; and the neglect of its 
cultivation is attended with the greatest possible evils, 
as well to the individual as to society at large. No 
doubt there are original differences in the power of 
reason, but we have no hesitation in stating that the 
chief source of the differences in this power found 
amongst men is to be traced to culture and discipline. 
When we neglect the cultivation of the reason of young 
persons, their minds become engrossed by trifles, or 
carried away by the wild freaks of imagination; and the 
most sacred and momentous opinions are either treated 
with unbecoming levity and indifference, or accepted 



CULTIVATION OF REASON. 209 

without tiioni^lit or reflection. Such persons readily be- 
come the victims of sophistry, or the willing slaves of 
superstition and bigotry. They have not the power, 
because the habit has not been cultivated, of giving a 
full and candid examination of all the facts which ought 
to influence their opinions in any subject of inquiry. 
Such persons never pursue truth for its own sake, — 
they do not know what it is to yield their minds to the 
force of truth; and, as a necessary consequence, their 
opinions are formed from prejudice or passion. 

Reason is, of course, aided by other mental faculties, 
such as memory, attention, conception, and abstraction, 
but especially by attention and conception. These two 
faculties, as we have already shown, are strictly voluntary 
faculties, and therefore may be greatly strengthened and 
developed by exercise and habit. A vivid conception of 
all the parts of a subject of investigation, is the first 
great step gained in the process of inquiry. 

It has not been considered necessary, in what follows, 
to make any distinction between an act of judgment and 
an act of reason. Our higher kinds of judgment seem 
to involve all the essential elements of a process of rea- 
soning. 

The following general rules may be laid down for cul- 
tivating the reasoning powers of children. 

I. The minds of children should he first exercised in easy 
processes of reasoning^ adapted to their state of mtellecttcal 
development. Their reason should be first exercised in the dis- 
cernment of the relations, connections, tendencies and analogies of 
familiar facts. 

Until a child has some knowledge of facts and effects, 
he cannot inquire into principles or causes. Our first 
steps in the process of reasoning are observation and 
comparison, then follow deduction and generalization. 
A child is capable of forming conclusions long before he 
can put his reasoning into language. The teacher should 
be in no haste to break the spell of this silent — this 
truly ideal — process of reasoning; it is better that 



210 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

ideas — conceptions — judgments — should precede lan- 
guage, for the formality of language too often casts a 
blighting shadow over what might otherwise have been 
a glowing vital conception. But this solitary commun- 
ion of a child with nature cannot always go on; it is 
proper that the child should be for a time cast upon the 
bosom of nature; but after the nursling has attained a 
certain stage of spontaneous development, it is necessary 
that he should be able to express his ideas in language, 
in order that he may profit from the results of the ex- 
perience of others. Hence it follows that the vocab- 
ulary of children should be gradually enlarged with 
the enlargement of their ideas or real knowledge. Words 
become a hindrance to reasoning, when the vocabulary 
of the child exceeds his ideas. This we cannot help 
regarding as one of the greatest evils in our present 
systems of education; and we are sorry to observe that 
men high in authority have recently given, indirectly at 
least, their countenance to the evil, by exacting a knowl- 
edge of the letter, rather than the spirit, of certain sub- 
jects of instruction, — such as religion, geometry, arith- 
metic, and algebra. 

The reason of children is frequently misled by the 
erroneous use of words. We should constantly encour- 
age them to explain their views and opinions, in order 
that we may rectify their errors. Some people do not 
care what absurdities they utter in reasoning with chil- 
dren; they do not hesitate to talk to them about things 
which are far above their comprehension, and they have 
always a ready explanation to give of matters involving 
the greatest mystery. Such tutors fill the young mind 
with errors and prejudices, which years of training may 
fail to eradicate; for it is often more difficult for us to 
unlearn what is false than it is to learn what is true. To 
judge whether a subject of reasoning is within the com- 
prehension of a child, we should consider whether the 
facts or events upon which it is based are within the 
range of his experience. 

Reasoning must not be rendered a task, or conducted 
in so formal ^ manner as to weary the mind of the pupil; 



FIRST EXEIICISE OF THE KEASONING FACULTY. 211 

the exercise of his reason must be spontaneous. We 
should give him the facts and materials for reasoning, 
rather than make a direct demand upon his reason. A 
desultory style of presenting those facts will best secure 
our purpose; for it is a law of the human mind that 
while we can achieve but little in the higher processes of 
reasoning without the strictest observance of order, — in 
the first steps of reasoning, on the contrary, we seem to 
derive the most healthful excitement from the very ab- 
sence of order. Every experienced teacher knows this 
to be true, and unconciously acts upon this conviction. 
The reasonins: powers of a child are exercised whenever 
we put the question why, or receive the answer because. 
The higher principles of a science should never be 
taught before the pupil has been made acquainted with 
the relations and analogies of the most familiar facts. 
But many teachers, for the sake of following what they 
conceive to be a logical order, or, it may be, the arrange- 
ment given in their text-books, reverse the natural 
order, and teach the most abstract and least attractive 
things first. 

Mathematical subjects afford one of the best exercises 
for the reasoning powers. Mathematical reasoning is 
simple, and free from all uncertainty; this depends 
chiefly upon the following circumstances. 

1. Nothing is taken for granted or on mere authority; 
for its principles or reasoning are axioms of self-evident 
truths. 

2. Its proper objects are the relations of numbers, 
lines and spaces, things which are cognizable by our 
senses, and which can be defined and measured with a 
precision of which the objects of no other kinds of rea- 
soning are susceptible. 

The earliest conceptions of a child relate to form and 
number, and they are the first which their minds are 
capable of viewing abstractedly: hence, the elements of 
arithmetic, algebra and geometry should be amongst 
the very earliest subjects of study, for the purpose of 
developing the reasoning powers. Mathematics, how- 
ever, like other first subjects of study, should be taught 



212 PUlLOSOrHV OF EDUCATION. 

progressively, avoiding as much as possible the formal- 
ities of tedmical demonstration; and principles should 
always be taught in connection with their applications. 

It is a gross error to suppose that a pupil will have 
the power of applying abstract principles, merely be- 
cause he is able to demonstrate the truth of these prin- 
ciples. A knowledge of Euclid is one thing, and the 
employment of geometrical theorems in the business of 
life is another. The bringing of familiar facts and 
abstract principles into apposition is not only attractive 
to the young mind, but also exercises the reasoning 
powers in a way which no other subject can do. Who 
does not remember the pleasure that he felt when he 
saw the doctrine of similar triangles applied to the find- 
ing: of the height of a tower bv means of the shadow of 
a stick ? 

Although the mathematical sciences may form one of 
the best initiatory trainings of the reasoning powers, 
yet it is comparatively inefficient in giving that higher 
finish and development to the powers of reason. It only 
exercises the mind in appreciating one kind of evidence, 
— namely, mathematical evidence. Some other subject, 
therefore, should be adopted for the purpose of develop- 
ing the reasoning powers of children in relation to moral 
evidence. 

These branciies of knowledge* may give a false direc- 
tion to the mind, if they are not taught with caution, 
and in connection with moral science. The certainty and 
peculiar nature of mathematical science often inspire 
the disposition to demand the same kind of demonstra- 
tion in other points. The wonderful extent to which we 
can trace and imitate the operations of nature, tempts 
us to rest on second causes, and forget that Power which 
is necessary to establish and maintain the laws which we 
only discover. For this purpose, these studies should not 
only be conducted in a religious spirit, but should be 
accompanied and alternated with those which will give 
another direction to the mind. A pupil thus learns much 

*Woodbridge. 



MATHEMATICAL AND MORAL EVIDENCE. 213 

of the nature of moral evidence, and moral relations, and 
is accustomed to employ these, as well as mathematical 
demonstration, as a part of his series of thought, and as 
a sufficient ground for his conclusions. 

On this subject Abercrombie observes: "Notwith- 
standing the high degree of precision which thus dis- 
tinguishes mathematical reasoning, the study of mathe- 
matics does not, as is commonly supposed, necessarily 
lead to precision in other species of reasoning, and still 
less to correct investigation in physical or mental science. 
The explanation that is given of this fact seems to be 
satisfactory. The mathematician argues certain conclu- 
sions from certain relations of quantity and space, which 
are ascertained with absolute precision; and these prem- 
ises are so clear, and so free from all extraneous matter, 
that their truth is obvious, or is ascertained without dif- 
ficulty. By being conversant with truths of this nature, 
he does not learn that kind of caution and severe exam- 
ination which are required in other sciences for enabling 
us to judge whether the statements on which we proceed 
are true, and whether they include the whole truth 
which ought to enter into the investigation. He thus 
acquires a habit of too great facility in the admission of 
data or premises, which is the part of every investiga- 
tion which the physical or mental inquirer scrutinizes 
with the most anxious care, — and too great confidence 
in the mere force of reasoning, without adequate atten- 
tion to the previous processes of investigation on which 
all reasoning must be founded. It has been, accord- 
ingly, remarked by Mr. Stewart, and other accurate ob- 
servers of intellectual character, that mathematicians are 
apt to be credulous, in regard both to opinions and to 
matters of testimony; while, on the other hand, persons 
who are chiefly conversant with uncertain sciences ac- 
quire a kind of scepticism in regard to statements, \\ hich 
is apt to lead them into the opposite error." 

1'lie physical and mathematical sciences are full of 
simple facts nnd principles which are highly calculated 
to cultivate the reasoning powers of children. History, 
too, if properly taught, may be made a great instrument 



214 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

in the cultivation of their reasoning powers: not that 
history which merely relates the dull, dry detail of events 
in their chronological order, and gives more prominence 
to the installation of a monarch than to the discovery of 
a physical law, or to the advent of a groat man whose 
soul is destined to rule the world of philosophy: not that 
history which perseveringly follows the blood-stained 
foot-prints of warriors or the chicanery of crafty, little- 
souled statesmen, or the various ramifications of the 
petty schemes of ambitious autocrats, who fret their day 
upon the stage of existence, then die, and leave no sign 
behind them: not that history, in short, which ignores 
the philosophy of history; — but that history which gives 
the record of really great events, which follows the de- 
velopment of society, marks the relations of events to 
each other, and resolves them into epochs. The child 
will thus be taught to study the nature of moral rela- 
tions and moral evidence. In the same manner we 
should like to see language and literature taught. 

In all these subjects, the teacher should lead his pupils 
to distinguish between the relations of facts and events 
which are merely incidental, and those that are fixed and 
uniform.* From the relations of familiar facts and events, 

* Twenty years ago, when amateur teachers were few, the 
writer of this" work gave lessons on the science of common things 
(or what he called " science at home ") to an evening class of 
boys, varying from twelve to fifteen years of age. 

These lessons were illustrated by simple and striking experi- 
ments, made with apparatus constructed, for the most part, out of 
the ordinary articles of household use. The subjects selected 
for instruction were not only useful in themselves, having a rela- 
tion to the occupations of life, but also so simple as to be within 
the comprehension of his young pupils. Recondite facts of 
science, however useful in their remote applications, were gener- 
ally avoided when they did not admit of graphic or experimental 
illustrations. 

The following is a list of the subjects on which these familiar 
lectures were given: — 

What is the best kind of gravel for making a path? The prop- 
erties of the lever, shown by a rod balanced upon the edge of a 
hook. The best way of making a fire. How a candle burns, and 
why you should not take the snuff off too close. Why the smoke 



" SCIENCE AT HOME." 215 

he will frequently rise to the illustration of general prin- 
ciples; at other times, he will descend from the general 
principles to the familiar facts or events which illustrate 
them. But before children are taught any systematic 
course of study, they should be lead to reason and to 



rises in the chimney; and how a smoking chimney may be, to a 
certain extent, cured. To explain the use and construction of a 
wheel-barrow. How breathing and flame vitiate the air; and how 
pure air should be supplied to apartments. Bad smells are not 
only disagreeable, but they carry with them the seeds of disease 
and death; how bad smells may be prevented: importance of 
cleanliness; of drainage; and of good dwelling houses. How to 
sink a well. How to make a pump. How to economize labor. 
How to economize food, and to preserve common articles of use. 
How to preserve health: you should live upon plain, wholesome 
food; you should perform some physical labor; your clothes 
should be adapted to the season, and to the state of the weather. 
Where the water of the river Ouse comes from, and where it runs 
to. And so on. 

These lessons on common things were productive of the most 
satisfactory results. The boys were so interested in the lessons 
that they would at any time leave their games to attend the class. 
Many of the parents did not, at first, quite understand what their 
children had to do with science; but when they found that the 
teacher had been explaining how to make a fire, how to prevent 
the chimney from smoking. &c., they became as much interested 
in the lessons as their children — and thus the parents speedily be- 
came powerful auxiliaries in carrying on the work of education. 
It is true that some parents stood out for a long time against the 
new-fangled system. — they merely wanted their boys taught read- 
ing, writing and accounts. Indeed, a mother thrashed her son for 
asserting that the teacher had shown him how the earth turned 
round every twenty four hours. "Hold your tongue, sirrah! 
don't tell me such lies," said this prejudiced mother; "master 
could never put such a falsehood into your head. Has not the 
stack-yard stood at the back of our house ever since 1 was a child, 
a girl, and a married woman, and does it not stand there still?" 
But this argument did not carry conviction to the boy's mind, and 
as a last resource he was thrashed for his obstinacy. 

Noble lords, and learned doctors, and newspaper editors, have 
lately discovered the importance of teaching the science of com- 
mon things in our schools. And some of them, no doubt, will 
have their names emblazoned in our blue books as the great 
renovators of popular education. 



216 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

exercise their judgment upon common things, facts, and 
events. 

*' Thus the men 
Whom nature's works can charm, with God himself 
Hold converse; ^row familiar, day by day, 
With his conceptions; act upon his plan; 
And form to his the relish of their souls." 

The relations of things and events may be viewed in 
six distinct aspects, viz., relations of character, of 
degree, of cause and effect, of connection and composi- 
tion, of analogy, and of law. We shall give a few exam- 
ples of these different kinds of relation, wnth the view of 
illustratinor what is here meant. 



(1) Relations of character. 

All animals with four feet are called quadrupeds: 
then a cow must be a quadruped. A fowl is not a 
quadruped — why ? All hot-blooded animals breathe 
air: then ahorse must be a hot-blooded animal. Trans- 
parent bodies can be seen through: then water is a 
transparent body, because I can see objects through a 
glass of water. Acids are sour to the taste, and change 
vegetable blue colors to red: then vinegar must be an 
acid, for I am sure it tastes sour enough, and the drop 
which Jane let fall on her blue apron has made it red. 
All quadrilateral figures have four sides: then a sheet 
of foolscap paper has the form of a quadrilateral figure. 
Heavy substances sink in water: then chalk must be a 
heavy substance. Inflammable bodies burn: then coal 
must be an inflammable body. The particles of a fluid 
body readily move amongst themselves: then mercury 
iniist be a fluid body. Metals have a peculiar lustre, 
called the metallic lustre, like gold and silver: then 
copper and lead must be metals. Artificial substances 
are made by man: then woolen cloth must be an arti- 
ficial substance. A natural substance is produced by 
nature, without the aid of art: then wool is a natural 



RELATIONS OF TUINGS AND EVEN^TH. 217 

substance. Bodies, like the air, which support flame 
are called supporters of combustion: then chlorine must 
be a supporter of combustion, for a candle burns in this 
gas. 



(2) Relations of degree and proportion. 

John's shoe is too small for Henry's foot; then the 
child will readily make the deduction — Henry's foot 
must be larger than John's. Our dog is larger than the 
cat: then a hole through which the dog can just go must 
be larger than a hole which the cat can just go throuajb. 
I cannot reach to the top of the door: then the door i?* 
higher than I am. 

I can lift the chair, but 1 cannot lift the table: then 
the table is heavier than the chair. James can push the 
table along the floor, but he cannot carry it: then it is 
easier, that is, it requires less force, to push the sofa 
along the floor than to carry it. I cannot lift that stone, 
but I can easily overturn it: then it requires less force 
to overturn a heavy body, like the stone, than it does to 
raise it up or lift it. 

Thomas takes an hour to walk from Charing Cross to 
Chelsea, whereas I can walk over the distance in three- 
quarters of an hour: therefore I walk faster than 
Thomas. 

Yesterday tlie water in the kettle took three-quarters 
of an hour to boil, but to-day it has only taken half an 
hour: then it follows that the fire is hotter to-day than 
it was yesterday. The sun is longer above the horizon 
in summer than he is during the winter: hence the sum- 
mer is hotter than the wintei'. Water never freezes at 
Bermuda : then the climate of Berranda must be warmer 
than that of England. 

A body of a red color can be seen at a greater dis- 
tance than a body of a blue color: then red must be a 
brighter color than blue. 

The shadow of that tree is longer than the shadow of 
that house: then the tree must be higher than the house. 



218 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

A pound weight of bread is larger in bulk than a 
pound weight of lead: then lead must be a heavier sub- 
stance than bread. Bread floats on water, but cheese 
ginks in it: then cheese must be a heavier substance, 
bulk for bulk, than bread. 

Smoke rises in the air, but silk paper falls: then smoke 
must be a lighter substance than silk paper. 



(3) Relations of cause and effect. 

A kettle on the fire will never burn so long as there is 
water in it; then the boiling water, or steam, must carry 
off the heat. It is warmer during the day when the 
sun shines than it is during the night: then the sun must 
be the source of heat. A crow on the top of St. Paul's 
Cathedral does not look larger than a sparrow: then the 
height of St. Paul's must be very great. "When the fire 
burns briskly, light pieces of paper are carried up the 
chimney: then there must be a current of air rushing up 
the chimney. When sealing-wax, glass or brown paper 
is rubbed with a dry piece of flannel, electricity is pro- 
duced: then friction generates electricity. Snow flakes 
fall in the air, soap-bubbles rise in the air*: then i^now 
must be a heavier substance than air, and soap-bubbles 
must be lighter than air. 

The soap-bubble is a heavy fluid inflated with hot air: 
then this hot air must be the thing that makes the soap- 
bubble lighter than the surrounding air. After a little 
time the soap-bubble bursts; does it burst inwards or 
outwards ? Inwards — why ? The soap-bubble moves 
from the shade to the sunshine, — it bursts, — why ? In- 
wards or outwards ? Outwards — why ? The soap bub- 
ble is globular in its shape — why ? 

In order to roast a joint of meat, it is made to turn 
before the fire — why V The meat is turned round in order 
that every part of it may be properly roasted. A register 
stove throws out more heat than a common fireplace — 
why ? Because the register stove reflects the heat of the 
fire, or, in other w^ords, it throws the heat of the fire into 



RELATIONS OF CAUSE AND EFP'ECT. 219 

the room. Woolen clothes keep our bodies warm in 
cold weather — why ? Because woollen clothes prevent 
the heat from passing out of the body, or, in other 
words, we may say woollen is a bad conductor of heat. 
Nature has clothed the lower animals either with wool, 
hair or feathers— why ? Nature has done for them what 
the reason of man enables him to do for himself. In 
igniting a fire, we put shavings and wood at the bottom 
of the fireplace, and the coals above them — why ? Pru- 
dent people take their principal meal about the middle 
of the day — why ? Men work during the day, and sleep 
during the night — why ? When the sky is cloudy, we 
are likely to have rain, but when the sky is clear, we 
never have rain — why ? Ice feels cold, boiling water 
feels hot — why ? Because the ice is colder than our 
bodies, and the boiling water is warmer. The iron part 
of a spade feels colder than the wooden part— why? 
Because the iron conducts, or conveys, the heat from our 
bodies more rapidly than the wood. The handle of a 
coffee-pot is usually made of wood — why ? Deal floors 
are warmer than brick floors — why ? In frosty wreath er, 
the water from the clouds falls in the form of snow or 
hail — why ? With us the north w^ind is usually colder 
than the south wind — why? At noon-day, when the 
sun shines, our shadows fall towards the north — why ? 
The snow falls upon the mountain tops more than it does 
in the valleys or plains — why ? - The west wind with us 
is usually accompanied with rain — why ? Because the 
west wind passes over the Atlantic Ocean, and therefore 
comes to us charged with moisture. The east wind is 
dry and parching — why? Thunder storms generally 
take place at the close of summer — why ? 



(4) Relations of connection and composition. 

The earth on which we live is globular: then naviga- 
tors should be able to sail round it. When a body can 
be seen a long way off, it must be very large; then 
Windsor Castle must be very large, for it can be Feen 



220 THILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

from Richmond Hill! — then the moon must be very 
large, for we know that she is far, far above the clouds, 
A square whose side is two feet may be divided into 
four small squares one foot in the side: then a square 
which is two feet in the side must be four times the size 
of a square which is one foot in the side. When hydro- 
gen gas burns in oxygen, water is formed; then water 
must be composed of hydrogen and oxygen. When 
phosphorus is burnt in oxygen, a white substance is 
formed, called phosphoric acid: then phosphoric acid must 
be composed of phosphorus and oxygen. When sul- 
phuric acid is poured upon chalk, carbonic acid gas is 
given off: then chalk must contain carbonic acid. When 
red lead, or oxide of lead, is heated, oxygen gas is given 
off, and metallic lead is left behind: then red lead must 
be composed of lead and oxygen. Drunkards always 
shorten their days: then a drunkard must be guilty of 
self-murder, or suicide. 



(5) Relations of analogy. 

A piece of cork rises in water in the same way as a 
balloon rises in the air, or as smoke rises in the air: as 
the cork is lighter than the water, so the balloon is 
lighter than the air, bulk for bulk. When a piece of 
lump sugar is placed in a spoonful of water, the water 
rises up the pores of the sugar, in the same way as water 
rises up the pores of a sponge, or as water rises up a 
fine tube, or between two plates of glass, placed near to 
each other. Water will dissolve sugar, in the same way 
as water will dissolve salt, or as spiiits of wine will dis- 
solve camphor. If a st)ap-bubble be twirled round just 
before it is thrown from the bowl of the pipe, it will 
revolve and become flattened at its poles by its rotation 
on its axis: when a mop is twirled round, it assumes 
a somewhat flattened shape, in the same way as the 
whirling motion of the earth has caused its equatorial 
parts to swell out. The steam from boiling water, by its 
elastic force, sometimes raises the lid of the kettle, in 



KELATIOJsS OF ANALOGY. 221 

the same way as the steam of a steam engine raises the 
piston or plug in the cylinder. A watch has had a 
maker; in like manner the world has had a Creator. As 
a magnet attracts iron, so somewhat in the same 
manner the sun attracts the planets in the solar system. 
As the contrary poles of a magnet attract each other, so 
bodies electrified in contrary ways attract each other; 
and as like poles of a magnet rej^el each other, so bodies 
electrified in the same way repel each other. As bodies 
in front of a fire become warmer than those at the sides, 
so in like manner places at the equator more directly 
under the sun's heat, become warmer than those places 
towards the poles,where the sun's heat glances obliquely 
upon them. 

What qualities have sealing-wax, sulj^hur, and pitch in 
common ? They are all inflammable, fusible, brittle when 
cold, but adhesive when nielted, and generate the same 
kind of electricity by friction. What qualities and 
points of structure have carnivorous animals in common? 
An iron hoop is elastic, — name some other bodies analo- 
gous to the hoop in this respect. A bullet is a sphere, — 
name some other bodies that are spherical. What prop- 
erties have all bodies in common ? Weight, &c. 

When a child learns, for the first time, some new prop- 
erty of a thing with which he is quite familiar, he is 
taken by that sort of surprise which affords him the 
highest pleasure, and which forms one of the most 
powerful incentives to intellectual activity. Thus, for 
example, a boy readily admits that the air is a transpar- 
ent fluid; but when he is shown that it has weight, like 
lead, or any other material substance, he is taken by 
surprise — a surprise which is nearly allied to doubt — 
and he is thereby prepared to give an earnest attention 
to any experiments we may make upon the subject. 

(6) Relations of laiv depending on inductive reasoning. 

When iron is heated, its bulk is increased; — when 
water is heated, its bulk is also increased; — and the 



222 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

same holds true with respect to any other substance 
which has been tried: then one general law of heat is 
that it expands all bodies. Sound travels over eleven 
hundred feet in one second; twice eleven hundred in 
two seconds; thrice eleven hundred feet in three seconds; 
and so on: then, sound travels at a uniform rate. 

Misery, disease, and death always follow drunkenness, 
dissipation, and all such crimes; then vice and misery 
are inseparably connected. Liars and thieves are never 
trusted; a truthful and honest person is always es- 
teemed: then honesty must be the best policy. 

A body, let fall from a tower, falls sixteen feet in one 
second, four times sixteen feet in two seconds, nine times 
sixteen feet in three seconds, and so on: then the spaces 
passed over by falling bodies increase as the squares 
of the times. 

A ball struck along a floor moves in a straight line; 
the harder the blow the further the ball moves; then 
something must cause the ball to stop — what is it? Is 
it the roughness of the floor (the friction of the floor),or 
the blowing of the air ? If the floor were smoother would 
the ball move further ? Would the ball stop if there were 
nothing tending to destroy its motion ? Let us try, — has 
anybody tried this ? Yes, my child, we may suppose a 
teacher to say, this has been tried, and it is found that 
the more we remove the resistances of fiiction and the 
air, the farther and farther the ball will move: then, if 
these resistances could be removed altogether, what 
should we expect? Why, that the ball would never stop, 
that is to say, it would move on and on, in a straight 
line for ever, if it did not meet with any external force 
or resistance to stop it. 



(7) Relations of law depending on deductive reasoning. 

The force of gravity decreases as the squares of the 
distances: then a body will be lighter at the top of a 
mountain than it is at the sea shore: then a pendulum, 
will vibrate slower at the top of a mountain, than it will 



RELATIONS OF LAW. 223' 

do at tbe sea shore. The atmospbere is au elastic fluid: 
then the air at the top of a mountain is not so dense as 
it is on the plain. The temperature at wiiich water boils 
increases with the pressure upon it: then water will 
boil at the top of a mountain at a less degree of heat than 
it would do at tbe sea shore. Rough bodies radiate, or 
throw out, heat more rapidly than smooth, polished 
bodies: then^ other things being the same, hot water in 
the kettle will become cold sooner than if it were in a 
polished metal tea-pot. The force of the wind makes a 
kite fly: then a kite must fly best in windy weather. 
When a flame is applied to a mixture of street gas and 
atmospheric air, it explodes: a lighted candle should 
never be taken into a room where there is an escape of 
gas. The pressure of water is in proportion to its depth : 
then the strength of embankments should be in pro- 
portion to the depth of the fluid which they have to 
sustain: then, the strength of beer barrels should be in 
proportion to their depth. The intensity of light de- 
creases as the squares of the distances increase: then 
the light of a candle at twenty feet distance will be one- 
fourth of what it is at ten feet. 

The height to which water may be raised, by the com- 
mon pump, is in proportion to the pressure of the sur- 
rounding air: then the common pump will raise water 
to a greater height on the plain than it will do on the top 
of a mountain. The resistance of fluids to a moving body 
is in proportion to the squares of their velocities: then 
there must be considerable loss of power when railway 
carriages move with great velocities. The resistance 
which friction presents to a moving body is the same for 
all velocities: then, so far as friction is concerned, there 
is no loss of power in moving railway carriages at a high 
speed. 



224 riJiLOsoriiv of kducatiox, 



II. After the reasoning powers have been exercised in the man- 
ner Just descrihed, the process of reasoning should he analyzed ; 
and this should he done in connection with simple examples. 

It should be «howu that every process of reasonmg 
consists of two parts — the premises and the conclusion 
— the thing or things which we take for granted, or 
assume to be true; and the proposition which we have 
to establish. 

The premises consist of, (1) First or intuitive truths; 
(2) Propositions and principles, eitlier taken for granted, 
or which have already been proved; (3) Certain facts, 
or relations of facts, which we believe to be authentic, 
and to which our assumed principles are to be in some 
manner applied. 

The conclusion is deduced from the application of the 
assumed principles to the facts. Here we have not only 
to assure ourselves of the correctness of the principles 
assumed, and of the authenticity of the facts,but also to 
determine whether the principles are legitimately appli- 
cable to the facts; for the principles may be correct,and 
the facts may be authentic,and yet the reasoning may be 
false, from the want of a true connection between the 
principles and the facts. 

We examine the truth or falsehood of a process of 
reasoning or argument by the method of the ancient syl- 
logism. Formallogicisof very little use in the discovery 
of truth, or even in the first stages of school instruction; 
yet a knowledge of the syllogism will freqently enable 
a young man to detect the sophistry of an argument, 
which might otherwise confound his judgment. -An 
intelligent boy of thirteen or fourteen years of age may 
readily understand the nature of a syllogism. 

If I simply say that "the greatest philosophers are 
mortal, for they are but men," 1 reason, — I employ the 
elements of a syllogism: thus we have, — 

First, 1 employ the general fact, — that all men are 
mortal. 



SYLLOGISTIC REASONING. 225 

Secoud, the special fact, coming under the general 
class of facts referred to this proposition, — that philoso* 
phers are men. 

Third, the inference or deduction from this connec- 
tion, — that philosophers are mortal. 

The first is called the major proposition, the second the 
minor proposition, and the third, the conclusion, or new 
proposition. Thus, the foregoing reasoning may be put 
in the form of a syllogism: — 

Major Propositiou, All men are mortal, 
3Iinor Proposition, Philosopliers are men ; 

Conclusion, Therefore, philosophers are mortal. 

In order that our conclusions may be valid, it is neces- 
sary that the major and minor propositions should not 
only be separately true, but the minor proposition must 
belong to the class of facts included in the major prop- 
osition. 

Exercise your pupils in putting simple processes of 
reasoning (such as those given under the head of rela- 
tions in the foregoing article) into the form of a syl- 
logism. Require them to name the propositions or 
principles taken for granted (are they intuitive, or have 
they been proved ?) — the facts alleged to be true (upon 
what evidence do they rest?) — the major and minor prop- 
ositions (is the former true without exception? does 
the latter come under the former?) and so on. 

Give instances of false reasoning, and call upon your 
pupils to detect them. Let us give a few examples. 

Uxample 1. Point out the error in the follo\ying pro- 
cess of reasoning: 

The diagonals of all parallelograms bisect each other, 

Trapezoids are parallelograms ; 

Therefore the diagonals of trapezoids bisect each other, 

Atiswer, Here the major proposition is true; but the 
minor proposition is not true, that is to say, it is not one 
of the class of facts comprehended by the major; there- 
fore the conclusion is false. 



226 THILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



Example 2. Point out the error in the following pro- 



cess of reasoning: 

All created beings are mortal, 
Angels are created beings ; 
Therefore angels are mortal. 

Answer. Here the minor proposition is true, but the 
major is not true, for we have no ground for such a 
belief. 

Example 3. Where is the error in the following reason- 
ing? 

All human beings are mortal, 
Angels are not hmnan beings; 
Therefore angels are immortal. 

Answer. Here, although the conclusion is true, the 
reasoning is false: for since the converse of a proposi- 
tion is not always true, we are not entitled to infer that 
because human beings are mortal, therefore angels, 
which are not human beings, are not mortal. 



IH. Some of the most common sources of false reasoning 
should he pointed out. 

1. The admission of alleged facts without a due ex- 
amination. 

James, we may suppose a master to say to his pupil, 
how do you explain the fact that a steel needle will 
float upon water ? 

I don't know, sir; for steel being heavier than water, 
I should have thought that the needle would sink in 
water. In short, sir, 1 question the truth of the alleged 
experiment. 

Master, That is just what I should have expected 
from you (we may suppose the master to say). You 
were quite right to examine the trulh of an alleged fact, 
especially when it appears to interfere with your pre- 
vious experience, or at variance with certain general 
principles which you know to be true. At the same 



SOURCES OF FALSE REASONING. 227 

time I shall make the experiment, which establishes the 
fact, and you will then see, upon further reflection, that 
the phenomenon is due to the operation of a certain prin- 
ciple, which counteracts the tendency which the needle 
has to sink in the fluid. Illustrations of this kind may 
be readily extended by the teacher. 

2. Mistaking incidental connections for those that are 
uniform and constant, or confounding accidental coinci- 
dence with causation. 

Black ribbon being rubbed w^ith the hand becomes 
electrified. A child, upon observing the experiment, 
may naturally enough conclude that the color of the 
ribbon is essential to the result, unless he is shown, by 
further experiments, that the effect is independent of 
the color, and that the essential or permanent conditions 
are that the substance should be silk, and that it should 
be perfectly dry. 

"This spring, little James was looking at a man who 
was mowing the grass before the door. It had been 
raining, and when the sun shone the vapor began to 
rise from the grass. 'Does the man mowing make the 
smoke rise from the grass?' said the little boy. He was 
not laughed at for this simple question. The man's 
mowing immediately preceded the rising of the vapor; 
the child had never observed a man mowing before, and 
it was absolutely impossible that he could tell what 
effects might be produced by it; he very naturally imag- 
ined, that the event which immediately preceded the 
rising of the vapor was the cause of its rise; the sun 
was at a distance; the scythe was near the grass. The 
little boy showed by the tone of his inquiry that he was in 
a philosophic state of doubt; had he been ridiculed for his 
questions, had he been told that he talked nonsense, he 
would not upon another occasion have told his thoughts, 
and he certainly could not have improved in reasoning.' 

The best way to improve the judgment of children, 
with respect to the interpretation of natural phenomena 
is to extend their knowledge, and to lead them to make 
experiments, so that, by the repetition of such experi 
ments, they may discover what circumstances are essen 



228 riilLOSOPIIY UF EDUCATION. 

tial to the production of any given effects, and wluit are 
merely accidental or accessory. 

3. Assuming the converse of a proposition to be true. 
In mathematics nearly all the converse of propositions 

are true; but in general physics and the business of 
life, this is far from being the case. Thus, while all 
gaseous bodies are elastic, all elastic bodies are not 
gaseous. All horses are quadrupeds; but all quad- 
rupeds are not horses. Angels are immortal; but all 
immortal beings are not angels. Magnets attract iron 
filings; but all bodies which attract iron filings are not 
magnets, for any electrified body will attract iron filings; 
and so on to numberless instances. 

4. Confounding a mere ilhistration, or an analogy, 
with a demonstration. 

The relation of the times and spaces of a falling body 
is commonly illustrated by the division of a triangle into 
a series of little triangles, &c. ; but something more is 
required to raise the character of this illustration to the 
dignity of a demonstration. 

The whirling of a stone is often used to illustrate the 
law of centrifugal and centripetal forces; but this 
scarcely advances us a single step in the demonstration 
of the great law which regulates the planetary motions. 
Illustrations are exceedingly valuable in their place; but 
the pupil should never be allowed to regard an illustra- 
tion, or analogy, as a ground for dispensing with a full 
demonstration. He should be led to regard illustrations 
and analogies as preliminary steps to demonstration. 

5. In attaching erroneous or ambiguous meanings to 
terms; or in using terms in different senses in the course 
of an argument. 

Much false philosophy is based upon the ambiguities 
of language. 

Teachers should carefully rectify the verbal errors of 
children. 

"Turkey is an unhealthy countrj^," said a friend of 
mine one day to his pupils, "but this is owing more to 
the want of precaution on the part of the people, than to 
the badness of the climate." The boys did not appear 



RULES FOR THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 229 

fully to understand what was said to them. "Pre- 
caution," said my friend, " that is a hard word for you to 
comprehend, — what boy will tell me the meaning of this 
word?" The boys hesitated — they first stared at their 
master, and then at each other, but gave no further sign 
of intelligence, — the case was desperate, — they had got 
a tickler. My friend then, with the view of ascertaining 
the full amount of their ignorance, said: — "Now tell 
me whether precaution is exported or imported." The 
bait took, for the head boy of the class at once shouted 
out — " Exported, sir!" — and, as a matter of course, the 
answer went around the class. 

6. When we assume, in a disguised form, the principle 
which is to be proved. 

This is commonly called begging the question. 

Or when we take for granted any principle which 
requires proof. 

In proving, for example, that the angles at the base of 
an isosceles triangle are equal to each other,if we assume 
that the angles on the other side of the base are equal to 
each other, we should take for granted a proposition 
which is almost equivalent to the one which is required 
to be proved. 



IV. Some general rules should he occasionally given to chil- 
dren for the conduct of their understanding in the pursuit of 
truth. 

The following are a few examples of this kind:— 
Before commencing any inquiry, strip your mind of all 
prepossessions,prejudices, or hastily formed opinions,and 
yield yourself freely and dispassionately to the force of 
truth. Earnestly seek the truth. Never argue in sup- 
port of opinions which you do not believe; for the 
habit of false reasoning distorts and warps the soul, and 
tends to confound all distinction of right and wrong : 
let the love of truth be your ruling principle. Remem- 
ber, that you are responsible, as well for your opinions 
and judgments, as for your actions and conduct. 



230 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

" Majestic truth; and where Truth deigns to come, 
Her sister Liberty will not be far." 

Weigh well the validity of your arguments, or,it may 
be, the accuracy of your processes of irivestigatioD. 
Never form hasty conclusions; always ask yourself, before 
you have come to a final decision, — Is there no other 
view of the case which is as feasible as the one which I 
have taken ? 

See that your axioms, or first truths, may be fairly 
ranked as such. You may explain first truths, but you 
cannot prove them. 

Be watchful relative to the authenticity of facts. In 
the formation of your opinions, and in the regulation of 
your conduct, give a due weight to nil the facts which 
ought to influence your decision. 

Take care that your assumption, or it may be your de- 
finition, does not include the truth of the proposition 
which is to be proved. Remember that the converse of 
an established proposition may not be true. 

Clearly distmguish between an illustration of a truth 
and a demonstration of it. Bear in mind that facts may 
either illustrate the truth of a principle, or they may 
prove the truth of it. In reasoning from analogy,inquire 
whether there exist any points of difference between the 
analogous cases, which may make the principle of rea- 
soning inapplicable. 

ox THE CULTIVATION OF WIT A>fD INVENTION. 

Wit is only a peculiar form of reason: wit is reason 
exercised in search of grotesque resemblances between 
things apparently dissimilar. The decisions of judgment, 
which is another form of reason, are slow — those of wit 
are rapid; but the heavy thunder clouds of judgment 
not unfrequently burst forth in the lightning flashes of 
wit. The passage from the settled gravity of philosophy 
to the electric gaiety of wit, is easy and not unnatural. 
Great philosophers have generally beeh remarkable for 
their wit. The earliest shoots of intellectual growth are 
witty. It would be well, if the teacher would try to en- 



CULTIVATION OF WIT AND INVENTION. 231 

liven tbe dull routine of school duties by occasional sal- 
lies of wit and humor. His example would soon be fol- 
lowed by his pupils, for nothing glances from mind to 
mind more rapidly than the flashes of wit; such intel- 
lectual efforts are singularly procreative — one witty idea 
soon doubles and triples itself. Wit and humor, like 
gleams of sunshine, shed gladness and joy over a class of 
children. The great object of Divine benevolence, says 
the venerable Dwight, is the happiness of His creatures; 
and he who promotes the happiness of a little child for 
half an hour, is a fellow-worker with God. 

Invention, considered with respect to reason, consists 
in finding out new relations, or in discovering new truths 
from these new relations, and in putting these relations 
in such an order or form as to show how new truths 
arise out of them. 

If schoolmasters would endeavor to foster the devel- 
opment of the inventive powers of their pupils, we might 
have fewer learned, unproductive drones, but most cer- 
tainly we should have more inventors. We have known 
boys to make pulleys and other kinds of wheel machines, 
electrical machines and other sorts of experimental 
apparatus. Boys soon acquire such a passion for con- 
struction and invention that they would rather spend 
their market half-pence in tbe purchase of the materials 
for construction than in sweetmeats. 

In order to cultivate the inventive powers of childreUj 
the teacher, after having supplied them with facts, 
might occasionally throw out suggestions like the fol- 
lowing: Could you make anything of paper to illustrate 
the construction of the smoke-jack, or the wind-mill, 
&c.? Can you make a cone, &c., out of card-paper ? In 
how many different ways could you divide the ground 
floor of a house into three equal apartments? How 
would you join three pieces of wood together so as to 
make a model of the principal rafters of the roof of a 
bouse ? What would be an improvement to the common 
snuffers, &c., &g.? Elow would you join, without glue^ 
in the simplest manner, two pieces of wood so as to 
form a X square ? And so on. 



232 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

CHAP. VII. 

CULTIVATION OF THE MORAL FACULTIES. 

Man was originally created after the image of his Crea- 
tor, in knowledge and holiness: this was absolutely- 
necessary, in order that the creature should become the 
worshipper of the Creator; for we can only have a 
knowledge of God by the contemplation of His own 
image as it is reflected from our souls. The fall of man 
has neither eradicated any principle from his soul, nor im- 
planted any new one. This disastrous moral catastrophe 
has destroyed the balance of the various moral and in- 
tellectual faculties by giving a preponderence to what 
we call the malevolent and animal propensities over the 
intellectual and moral ones. One great object of teach- 
ing should be to restore, under the blessing of God, the 
various faculties of our nature to their first condition of 
purity and harmonious action, by stimulating the intel- 
lectual and benevolent affections, by curbing the undue 
activity of the selfish and animal propensities, and by 
directing them to their original ends and objects. There 
is no princi[)le in our nature which, under the blessing 
of God, may not be directed to what is good. In like 
manner, the fall of man has neitlier eradicated any law 
or principal in physical nature, nor given birth to any 
new or supplemental principle: it merely destroyed the 
balance ot the various laws operating in nature, by 
giving an undue preponderance to the operation of cer- 
tain destructive or rather corrective agencies. The storm 
and the whirlwind, which at present frequently spread 
havoc and desolation over the earth, and the noisome 
weeds, which frequently infest the soil, become evils 
only from their undue preponderance. But the provi- 
dence of God, co-operating with the labor of man, which 
can make the wilderness to blossom as the rose, which 
can make the dark and howling regions of the earth be- 
come radiant with joy and gladness, can also illuminate 
and purge those dark and foul recesses in the human 



CULTIVATION OF THE MORAL FACULTIES. 233 

soul, which have become the seat of gloomy and demoni- 
acal passions. The same beneficial influence, cooperating 
with the better nature of humanity, which can convert 
whatever is apparently evil in the external world into 
its original usefulness, can also divert the current of our 
evil tendencies into a right channel. The passions of 
suspicion, anger, hatred, and revenge, which arm the 
midnight assassin with the dagger or the poison cup, may 
be legitimately directed to the detection of error, to the 
denunciation of vice, or to the punishment of crime. 
** Woe unto you," says He who had no guile, "Scribes 
and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited 
sepulchres, which indeed appear beautifully outward,but 
are within full of dead men's bones, and of all un- 
cleanness." The love of self, which, in the form of 
selfishness, is really the most fruitful source of the moral 
evils which at present exist in the world, may become 
the mainspring of religion; — '* Why will ye die! O 
house of Israel." Pride, or the consciousness of power, 
which often leads us to despise what is humble and to 
oppress what is weak, may shield us from the meanness 
of falsehood, or raise us above the contamination of 
folly. Rashness and temerity, which often result in 
misery to ourselves, and in discomfort to our friends, 
may assume the form of that high-toned moral courage 
which is one of the most essential elements of true 
greatness. Ambition, combined with inflexible purpose, 
which like a giant in its strength tramples upon whatever 
stands in its path, and ruthlessly sacrifices all that is 
great or holy at its shyine, may lead us to glory in what 
is good, and to esteem it a greater honor to be a door- 
keeper in the house of God than to be a dweller in the 
tents of sin. The love of approbation, which in its 
vitiated form manifests itself in a vain and heartless 
display of our own powers, may, under proper guidance, 
stimulate us to merit the approbation of the good and 
great, and above all to seek the approbation of God and 
our own conscience. The man whose soul has been ex- 
panded by philosophy and sublimated by virtue and re- 
ligion, possesses the same faculties as the being whose 



234 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

soul has been cramped and enervated by ignorance, and 
corrupted and debased by crime. What a contrast 
between two things possessing the same elements! the 
one is like the sparkling and indestructible diamond, 
radiant with all the hues of heaven's own light; the 
other is like the churcoal, black, crumbling, shapeless, 
and worthless. The great business of education, there- 
fore, is not to eradicate any principle of our nature, but 
'to direct all our faculties towards their proper objects — 
to foster what is good and to check the development of 
what may tend to evil. 

All the moral faculties, without exception, should be 
trained from the earliest infancy; for they manifest 
themselves at a much earlier period than the higher 
faculties of intellect. '' Train a child," says the inspired 
writer, *'in the way in which he should go, and wiien he 
is old he will not depart from it." Tlie moral training 
of a child is, of course, best conducted by his parents, 
and especially by his mother. Home is the proper sphere 
of moral training; the earthly parent possesses, in this 
respect, the delegated authority of the heavenly Parent; 
and any system of school education which seeks to 
ignore this heaven-stamped authority, must be bad, 
not only in its principle, but also inexpedient and er- 
roneous in its practice. But do parents undertake this 
sacred duty ? or are they always willing to perform it 
in an efficient manner? If parents do not (and we fear 
that many of them in the present state of society fall far 
short in this respect), is the teacher qualified, or is he 
authorized, to undertake the sacred function ? The 
question is difficult to answer when put in this com. 
prehensive form. At least, however, we may safely say 
that he may fairly endeavor, to the best of liis abiiitieai 
and opportunities, to educate the child placed under his 
care in those grand and essential truths of morality and 
religion which are recognized by tlie great body of the 
people in this country. But the teacher should always 
endeavor to enlist the co-operation of the parents, in 
training the moral faculties of their children. There are 
few parents so far sunk in ignorance and crime, as to 



MORAL TRAINING. 235 

remain callously indifferent to the remonstrance of a 
teacher relative to the future well-being of their own 
children. What parents would desire that their own 
moral degradation should be perpetuated in their 
children ? The instinctive and disinterested love of the 
parent consecrates every moral lesson which he may 
give to his offspring. No school teacher can possibly 
place himself in the same attitude in relation to his pupil. 
" There is a love of offspring," says the eloquent author 
of the Natural History of Enthusiasm, "that knows no 
restrictive reasons; that extends to any length of 
personal suffering or toil; a feeling of absolute self-re- 
nunciation, whenever the interests of children involve a 
compromise of the comforts or tastes of the parent. 
There is a love of children in which self-love is drowned; 
a love, which when combined with intelligence and 
firmness, sees through, and casts aside, every pretext of 
personal gratification, and which steadily pursues the 
highest and most remote welfare of its object, with the 
determination at once of an animal instinct,and of a well- 
considered, rational purpose. There is a species of love 
not liable to be worn by time, or slackened, as, from 
year to year, children become less and less dependent 
upon parental care; — it is a feeling which possesses the 
energy of the most vehement passions, along with the 
calmness and appliancy of the gentlest affections; a 
feeling purged, as completely as any human sentiment 
can be, of the grossness of the earth: and which seems to 
have been conferred upon human nature as a sample of 
emotions proper to a higher sphere." 

The moral and religious training of children would be 
greatly advanced if our clergy would frequently address 
parents from the pulpit, on the best methods of con- 
ducting home education; and also if the teacher, along 
with the clergyman, would frequently visit the parents 
of his pupils, with the view of showing them how to 
proceed with the training of their children at home. 

I. All moral training should he based upon religion. 

A vaunt, that heartless secular system of training which 



236 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

would inculcate moral precepts apart from the sublime 
and soul-inspiring doctrines of revelation! Begone, with 
your tape-line and scissors, we do not want morality 
doled out to us by the measure! Begone, thou sneering 
spirit of skepticism, with all your fine-spun moral theories 
of expediency, brought forward to supplant the sublime 
doctrine of salvation by faith; you cannot disguise your 
cloven foot! Begone from the land of honest old 
England — Christian England; destroy not the quiet 
happiness which reigns in her hearths and homes! Back 
to skeptical France, if you please; if not there,then back 
to your native hell, and leave God-fearing teachers to 
do God's work! 

Away with those false metaphysics which would per- 
suade us that the idea of God is too subtle for the mind 
of a child. Its heartless propounders, no doubt, gauge 
the capabilities of the virgin soul of the child by theu* 
own narrow, sin-scorched natures. A more expansive 
and practical philosophy tells us that there is no con- 
ception which more easily assimilates itself to the infant 
soul, than the idea of the Creator. The idea of God is 
directly manifested to us through His Spirit. The Spirit 
of God, where is it ? where is it not ? It prevades all 
matter and all space; but it specially manifests itself in 
the sanctified human soul,in the form of the third person 
of the glorious Trinity; and we are told, by Christ, that 
the kingdom of heaven will be especially composed of 
little children. 

II. The teacher should^ above all things^ cultivate the sentiments 
of veneration and faith. 

Children instinctively venerate what is great and holy; 
and that teacher is guilty of the 2;Tossest impiety, who 
does not foster and develop, on all fitting occasions, the 
devotional affections of his pupils. There is scarcely any 
subject of instruction without having its religious bearing. 
Besides the direct and and positive religious instruction, 
osually given in our schools, the good teacher will avail 
himself of every incidental opportunity for inculcating 
moral and religious duties. The wisdom and goodness 



VENKKATIO^' AND FAITH. 237 

of God, as manifested in tlie works of His bauds, afford 
one of the best means for cultivating tbe devotional senti- 
ments of children; — the adaptation of the structure of 
animals to their instinct, and to their habits of life, — 
the relations of the great physical laws to each other,and 
to the essential purposes of vegetable and animal life, — 
the intimate connection between the laws of the physical 
and moral world, — all these, and many other evidences 
of divine wisdom and goodness, are highly calculated to 
foster and develop the devotional sentiments of children. 

The love and fear of God should be made the main- 
spring of all their actions. Children should be taught to 
do good, because it pleases their Father which is in 
heaven, and to avoid what is evil, because it offends Ilim. 
There is no sure anchor for the human soul but that 
infantine faith in the love and goodness of God, which 
exhibits itself in the following forms: faith in God's 
providence; — faith in His promises, as revealed in His 
holy word; — faith in His Son Jesus Christ for salvation; 
— faith in the moral government of God, and that, under 
this government, society is advancing towards the mil- 
lenium period, when humanity will have achieved for it- 
self that intellectual and moral emancipation from the 
thraldom of ignorance, and from the slavery of sin, 
which prophets have foretold, and of which inspired 
poets have sung. 

Teachers! instruct your children how to pray. Won- 
derful arrangement of divine mercy! the tones of that 
feeble child's voice ascend from earth to heaven, and 
rising far beyond the visible universe, they reverberate 
through the mansions of the blessed and reach the ear 
of Divinity; and God, well pleased with that little child, 
deigns to answer the prayer! That prayer descends to 
the lowest depths of hell, and makes the damned to 
gnash their teeth. Teachers ! a poor, guilty child of earth 
tells you to teach your children to pray; but the admo- 
nition should not come with less force on account of the 
unworthiness of the being that gives it, inasmuch as 
you may regard it, should you think proper, as the trib- 
ute which an unauthorized layman pays to religion. 



238 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

III. Teachers should constantly cultivate the benevolent affec- 
tions of children. 

The exercise of tbe benevolent affections affords us one 
of the purest and highest sources of pleasure. Children 
should be shown that it is their interest, as well as their 
duty to love one another, — to be kind, forbearing, and 
forgiving in their tempers, — and to be ever seeking to 
promote the comfort and happiness of their companions in 
preference to their own gratification. Tell them that 
when we pray to God (in our Lord's prayer) to forgive 
us our trespasseSjthat same prayer bases the petition on 
the assumed fact that we forgive them that trespass 
against us. But goodness of heart should not only pro- 
ceed from virtuous impulse, — it should also be sanctified 
by proper motives: children should be taught to love 
one another, because love is the fulfilling of the law, — 
because God is love — because He has manifested His 
love in their creation, in their preservation, and in their 
redemption. 

The school-room should he a happy place. That school 
is little better than a pandemonium, where the boys are 
allowed to quarrel and fight with one another. Malice, 
cruelty, and all vindictiveness of character, are a perpet- 
ual source of misery to their possessor, as well as to all 
with whom he comes in contact: on the contrary, gen- 
tleness, forbearance, and mercy, diffuse joy and glad- 
ness throughout the whole school. 

" Tbe quality of mercy is not strained; 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed; 
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes! 
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes 
The throned monarch belter than his crown. 
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 
The attribute to awe and majesty, ' 

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. 
But mercy is above this sceptered sway, 
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 
It is an attribute to God Himself; 
And earthly power doth then show likest God's, 
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 



THE BENEVOLENT AFFECTIONS. 239 

Though justice be thy plea, consider this — 
That in tbe course of justice, none of us 
Should see salvation! We do pray for mercy; 
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
The deeds of mercy." 

Good-natured children are always cheerful and'happy, 
and they become a source of happiness to all their com- 
panions; but ill-natured, spiteful children become the 
plague-spots of a school, — they make everybody about 
them miserable. A happy, cheerful disposition is not 
only salutary as regards its moral influence, but it is also 
one of the most indispensable conditions of intellectual 
progress. 

IV. The benevolent affectiom, as well as all the other moral 
faculties^ should he cultivated so as to become habits of action. 

We have already explained the importance of estab- 
lishing right habits of thought as well as virtuous habits 
of action; we have here only further to reiterate that, 
in order to establish habits of virtue and religion, the 
teacher should constantly enforce the performance of all 
important duties at their proper time and in their fitting 
place; for it should always be borne in mind that the 
neglecting to perform any duty at the time assigned 
for it, tends to weaken the habit which we wish to es- 
tablish. 

V. The teacher must educate the moral faculties of his pupils 
by his example as well as by his precepts. 

Example bears the same relation to moral science that 
experiment does to physical science: you cannot thor- 
oughly teach abstract principles without giving them a 
tangible form, — "a local habitation and a name." A 
teacher's life and conversation should, in all respects, 
become the living form and embodiment of his precepts. 

But the discrepancy between our precepts and practice 
has assumed the form of a common adage, "Do as I say, 
and not as 1 do." The teacher, of all men in society, 
should be the most watchful. He necessarily impresses 



240 riiiLOSOPiiY OF eduuatiox. 

the leading features of liis owu moral character upon hLs 
pupils. What an awful responsibility this involves! 
What a moral power he wields for good or for evil ! 
Each grain of truth or falsehood which he sows in the 
field of his labor will multiply itself indefinitely through- 
out eternity. 

No motion or <lynamical action can be lost in the 
physical world; so in like manner, in moral dynamics, 
the results of our actions will flow on through indefinite 
ages: what finite mind can investigate that moral for- 
mula which shall express the remote bearings of a single 
example of vicious conduct! Every moral precept given 
by a teacher to his class, and every act performed by 
him before his class, will live long after he is dead, and 
will perpetuate itself a thousand-fold in distant ages. 

How awful is the responsibility of the teacher! Every 
wrong word uttered by him, and every improper act 
done by him, will, as regards its remote consequences, 
be recorded again and again in the doom-book of Irod, 
there to stand as damning blots against him till the 
great day of reckoning! 

The thistledown from a single thistle,if left unchecked, 
will soon spread the weed over a whole district. A 
single plague-spot is sufficient to give rise to the con- 
tagion which may depopulate a city. In like manner, 
one symptom of moral corruption in the personal char- 
acter of a teacher may be the cause of a moral contagion 
which shall spread far and wide, and influence the des- 
tinies of future ages. 

The teacher should beware of 'acquiring any habits 
calculated to provoke censorious remarks. Children are 
keenly alive to any defects or imperfections in their 
teacher. It is almost impossible for any teacher to ap- 
pear what he really is not, before his pupils; his weak- 
nesses are sure to become a matter of ridicule, and his 
faults a subject of censure; and it would be w^ell if the 
evil stopped here; but it does not, for children insensibly, 
and even in spite of their better feelings, imitate the 
manners and conduct of their superiors in knowledge 
and station: to laugh at folly does not shield us from its 



INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE. 2 41 

attack, and to aiiimaclvert upon what is vicious is no 
guarantee that we are raised above its contamination. 
We have sometimes heard conversations like the fol- 
lowing going on amongst school-boys: — 

"I say, Tom, what a fine white choker teacher has 
got." 

''Do you think that he washed his face this morning?" 

"To be sure he did, but he has stuffed his nose into 
his snuff-box." 

"Don't you think, Jim, that you covdd give the lesson 
as well as master, if you had that book of his ? " 

"How slow master speaks." "Hold your tongue, 
man; don't you sec that he is thinking what he'll say 
next ? " 

" I do believe that master was a drinking last night, 
for he's half asleep while he's a talking." " How very- 
polite. Why don't you return the nod of the gentle- 
man ? " 

"Do you think he could do that sura without the key, 
which he always peeps into when he's puzzled ?" 

" Don't you think that master would give a better 
lesson without that bit of paper, which he's always a 
looking at ? " 

"I wonder where he copied his notes from." "Do you 
see that there little book that is lying on his desk? Well, 
he took them from that, for I saw him while Ave were 
saying our tables." 

"I don't care about being late for school; — teacher is 
often late himself." 

" What a raging passion master sometimes puts him- 
self in ; I wonder if he w^ould like to be struck with a 
stick as he sometimes strikes me." 

" How awfully long teacher makes the prayers. Do 
you think that he could pray without the book ?" "I 
don't understand the prayers: they seem to be written 
for men and women, and not for little boys like us."^ 

"Teacher never called once upon me, for all the time 
I was ill." 

" Do you know where teacher goes to of a night ? 



242 THiLOSOPHY of education. 

He goes to the cricketer's suppers; I saw him once my- 
self coming out of the ' White Hart ' late of a night." 

Our moral duties may be classed under three heads, 
viz.: (1) our duty to ourselves; (2) our duty to our 
neighbor; and (3) our duty to our God. To treat this 
subject adequately, or to give all the rules and maxims 
by wliich our moral faculties may be cultivated, in rela- 
tion to these duties, would more properly belong to a 
treatise on ethics, rather than to a work on school edu- 
cation. There are, however, three cardinal school virtues 
which demand the special attention of every school- 
master: these cardinal school virtues are (1) Truthful- 
ness; (2) Honesty; and (3) Humility. 

ON THE CULTIVATION OF TEUTHFULNESS. 

Truthfulness is said, by Professor Moseley, to be the 
great central pillar of the school-room. All cases of 
falsehood and deceit should be promptly denounced, and 
even the slightest evidence of prevarication, cunning, or 
hypocrisy, should be unmasked and exposed to reproba- 
tion. The concealment of truth is, in many cases, as 
great a crime as a direct falsehood. Boys too readily 
fall into a habit of adhering to the truth as regards the 
letter, but violate it as regards the spirit and intention. 
In such cases, the teacher should carefully explain to 
his pupils the true character of a lie; — that they tell a lie 
whenever they say anything, or do anything, with the 
intention of deceiving others. Mr. A. entered his school 
one day, and found what appeared to him to be a piece 
of cotton rag pinned to the coat-tail of one of the boys, 
but which was, in reality, a piece of flannel. " Who 
pinned that bit of rag to this boy's coat-tail ? " said he 
to his class; but no boy had moral courage enough to 
answer him. He looked round his class, and observed the 
evidences of guilt in the countenance of little Tommy 
Teaser, who was always the ringleader in all sorts of spite- 
ful pranks. " Now, Tommy," said Mr. A., " tell me the 
truth ; did you pin that cotton rng to this boy's coat-tail?" 



THE CULTIVATION OF TRUTHFULNESS. 243 

*' Please, sir," answered Tommy, "I did not pin any 
cotton rag to his coat-tail." Mr. A. was not satisfied — 
he felt confident that the boy had told a falsehood; but 
being always very careful in makinsj any direct charge 
of falsehood without a full evidence of the fact, he pa- 
tiently and cautiously made further inquiries. " Please, 
sir, at length said a little boy, "it is a bit of flannel, not 
a bit of cotton rag." "Oh, that is it," said Mr. A., "and 
Tommy Teaser tried to deceive me by apparently ad- 
hering to the letter of the fact, while he lied in spirit and 
intention. Now, my boys, he has not only practised a 
piece of deception upon me, but he has also lied to him- 
self by attempting to silence his own conscience. Do 
always remember, my children, that you tell a lie when 
you say or do anything with the intention to deceive 
others. I propose, as a punishment for this great crime, 
that Tommy Teaser shall not be allowed to enter the 
play-ground for the next two days. Do you not con- 
sider that this punishment is only fit and proper?" 
" Yes, sir," was the response of the class. 

We should endeavor to keep, as far as possible, all 
temptations to lying and deceit out of a child's way. 
The fear of punishment, the love of gain and the love 
of approbation are the great causes of lying in the 
school-room. Whenever temptations to lying are una- 
^voidably incurred, the teacher should be more than usu- 
ally careful and watchful. When a boy, for example, is 
suspected of having committed a fault, it may not be 
wise to ask him the direct question, — "Did you do this ?" 
for in such case a great majority of timid boys would 
most certainly tell a falsehood in order to shield them- 
selves from punishment: lying is most frequently a 
cowardly act. Again, in the conducting of school exam- 
inations, great care and delicacy should be observed to 
PREVENT the boys from practising any deceit: here the 
love of approbation is the chief temptation to the prac- 
tice of falsehood or deceit, as the case may be. The 
teacher should frequently illustrate the evil consequences 
of lying, by stories and anecdotes: the fable of the 
" Shepherd Boy and the Wolf" is an excellent example. 



244 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

The teacher should in all things be an example to his 
pupils in honesty and truthfulness. He should especially 
guard against disingenuous concealnoent of his own ig- 
norance, or that ridiculous pretension to universal knowl- 
edge which too often leads him to mystify what he can- 
not explain. The best apology for ignorance is the 
acknowledgment of it; and the highest practical lesson 
of truthfulness is the candid confession of error. Noth- 
ing can be more beautiful than that reciprocal confidence 
and trust which subsist between the honest teacher and 
his truth-loving j^upils. But if one link in the chain of 
confidence be broken, the whole is destroyed. '* When 
once a child detects you in equivocation," observes Miss 
Edge worth, "you lose his confidence; his incredulity 
will then be as extravagant as his former belief was 
gratuitous. It is in vain to expect, by the most eloquent 
manifestoes, or by the most secret leagues offensive and 
defensive, to conceal your real views, sentiments and 
actions from children. Their interest keeps their atten- 
tion continually awake; not a word, not a look, in which 
they are concerned, escapes them; they see, hear and 
combine with sagacious rapidity: if falsehood be in the 
wind, detection hunts her to discovery. Honesty is the 
best policy, must be the maxim in education, as well as 
in all the other affairs of life." 

It is almost impossible to conquer the hateful habit of. 
lying and prevarication after they have been confirmed 
by long practice. So remarkable is the habit amongst a 
large body of the laboring population in this country, 
that they really feel a pleasure in deceiving people, and 
regard a well-told falsehood as. the very highest evi- 
dence of superior intellect. 

The following graphic description of the character of 
the Irish laborer may be regarded as the type of cun- 
ning and deceit which exists amongst the uneducated 
classes of all countries: — 

*' All who are governed by any species of fear are dis- 
posed to equivocation. Amongst the lower class of Irish 
laborers and under-tenants, a class of people who are 
much oppressed, you can scarcely meet with any man 



THE CULTIVATION OF TRUTHFULNESS. 245 

who will give you a direct answer to the most indifferent 
question; their whole ingenuity, and they have a great 
deal of ingenuity, is upon the qui vtve with you the 
instant you begin to speak: they either pretend not to 
hear, that they may gain time to think, whilst you re- 
peat your question, or they reply to you with a fresh 
question to draw out your remote meaning; for they, 
judging by their own habits, always think you have a 
remote meaning, and they never can believe that your 
words have no intention to ensnare; simplicity puzzles 
them much more than wit. For instance, if you were to 
ask the most direct and harmless question, as, *Did it 
rain yesterday ?' The first answer would probably be, 
* Is it yesterday you mean ? ' ' Yes, yesterday! ' * No, 
please your honor, I wasn't at the bog at all yesterday, 
— wasn't I after setting my potatoes ? ' ' My good 
friend, I don't know what you mean about the bog; I 
only asked you whether it rained yesterday?' * Please 
your honor, I couldn't get a car and horse any way, 
to draw home my little straw, or I'd have the house 
thatched long ago.' ' Cannot you give me a plain answer 
to this plain question — Did it rain yesterday?' 'Oh 
sure, I wouldn't go tell your honor a lie about the mat- 
ter. Sorrah much it rained yesterday after twelve 
o'clock, barring a few showers.' 

" Oppression and terror necessarily produce meanness 
and deceit in all climates, and in all ages; and wherever 
fear is the governing motive of education, we must 
expect to find in children a propensity to dissimulation, 
if not confirmed habits of falsehood. Look at the true- 
born Briton under the government of a tyrannical peda- 
gogue, and listen to the language of inhorn truth; in 
the whining tone, in the pitiful evasions, in the stubborn 
falsehoods which you hear from the school-boy, can you 
discover any of the innate dignity of soul which is the 
boasted national characteristic? Look again; look at 
the same boy, in the company of those who inspire no 
terror; in the company of his school-fellows, of his 
friends, of his parents; would you know him to be the 
same being? His countenance is open, his attitude 



246 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

erect, his voice firm, liis language free and fluent, his 
thoughts are upon his lips,he speaks truth without effort, 
without fear. Where individuals are oppressed,or where 
they believe that they are oppressed,they combine against 
their oppressors, and oppose cunning and falsehood to 
power and force; they think themselves released from 
the compact of truth with their masters, and bind them- 
selves in a strict league with each other; thus school-boys 
hold no faith with their schoolmasters, though they 
would think it shameful to be dishonorable amongst one 
another." 

ox THE CULTIVATION OF HONEST V. 

Picking and stealing is peculiarly the besetting sin of 
the children of the poor. When a boy has once acquired 
this odious habit, it is almost impossible to cure him of 
it. The slightest evidences of dishonesty should be 
promptly checked. The teacher should frequently show, 
by examples, how petty acts of pilfering lead to the 
gallows. He should promptly and carefully check all 
the incipient forms of dishonesty, such as the improper 
use of the property of others; the disposition to defraud 
others of their just claim; and so on. While the 
teacher should never allow his boys to think that he 
suspects them capable of dishonesty, at the same time 
he should not throw temptation unnecessarily in their 
way. The adage, " suspect a man, and you make him a 
rogue — trust him, and you make him honest," should be 
acted upon with caution/' The temptations to dishonesty 
in the school-room chiefly originate in an undue love of 
property; in the love of luxuries; in the w^ant of the 
necessaries of existence; and in malevolence of dis- 
position. In trying to keep children honest,the teacher 
should look well to the motives which may be operating 
to lead them into the commission of crime, and they 
should be dealt with accordingly. 

HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE. 

The virtues of humility and docility form the brightest 
and most lovely ornaments in the infant character. 



HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE. 247 

They not only tend to promote the order and discipline 
of a school, but they, at the same time, induce that happy 
condition of mind which is most favorable for the 
acquisition of knowledge. On the contrary, super- 
ciliousness and conceit are not only the most prolific 
sources of disorder and disorganization in a school, but 
they, at the same time, not unfrequently entail upon their 
possessors the irremediable doom of stationary ignorance. 
Conceit is the most enfeebling of all our passions, and 
little hope can be entertained of that boy's future career 
in life, who indulges himself with the fallacious idea 
that he has arrived at the ne plus ultra of knowledge. 

I. In order to foster a spirit of humilitij, the teacher 
should show his pupils some of the mighty results which 
men of science have achieved; he should show what 
iusci'utable mysteries there are still in nature, which have 
hitherto baffled the comprehension of the greatest in- 
tellects; he should show them that the greatest philoso- 
phers have always been the most remarkable for humil- 
ity of character — Newton, for example, who compared 
himself to a little child picking up pebbles upon the sea- 
shore; he should tell them of the humility of Jesus, 
who left his seat on the throne of the universe to take 
upon himself our nature, and closed a life of sorrow by 
a death of agony, that he might restore a guilty world 
to the favor of its offended God. 

II. If the habit of obedience he properly cultivated, the child 
will promptly and cheerfully perform all the exercises and dis- 
charge all duties assigned to him hy his teacher. A due atten- 
tion to home exercises, a punctual attendance at school, 
and a prompt attention to all the class arrangements, 
should be constantly and strictly enforced by the 
teacher. Children should never be allowed to follow 
their own whims in preference to the commands of their 
master, nor should they be permitted to depart from the 
general rules of the school under any specious pretence, 
without the direct sanction of their master. The spoilt 
child is always seeking to escape from control; and the 
teacher should be very careful how he allows himself to 



248 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOIS". 

be swayed by the caprices of the little tyrant. The lit- 
tle world of the school-room may be regarded as a type 
of the great world, where there must be a supreme 
ruler and a proper subordination of one authority to 
another, and where the duty of all is obedience to the 
claims of the ruler. Taking this aspect of the matter, 
a properly organized school, therefore, may tend to fos- 
ter that spirit of obedience and contentment which is so 
intimately connected with national peace, order, and 
prosperity. If children have not been vitiated by bad 
examples or by improper training, they will have an in- 
stinctive faith in the judgment and good intentions of 
their teacher; and, as a necessary consequence, they 
will eagerly receive his instructions, and implicitly obey 
his commands. But if the teacher once deceives them 
by practising upon their credulity, or if he once treats 
them with harshness or injustice, then his power over 
them is lost forever. Thus, the disobedience of children 
is often the result of the improper management of the 
teacher. No good teacher will require his pupils to per- 
form any important duty without showing them the 
reasonableness of that duty; at the same time, it must 
be observed that the highest evidence of docility of 
character is manifested where the pupils promptly and 
implicitly obey the commands of their master. 

CLASSIFICATION OF SUBJECTS OF INSTRUCTION IN PvELA- 
TION TO THE CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND 
MORAL FACULTIES. 

Religion constitutes the great fundamental basis 
upon which all the intellectual and moral faculties 
should be cultivated. 

Writing and Drawing cultivate the perceptive and 
imitative faculties, and, if properly taught, tend espe- 
cially to cultivate the taste and foster a love of the 
beautiful. 

Mental Arithmetic cultivates the memory and the 
powers of conception and reasoning. It also especially 
fosters the habit of promptitude, presence of mind, and 
mental activity. 



SUBJECTS OF INSTRUCTION. 249 

Arithmetic cultivates the reasoning powers, and in- 
duces habits of exactness and order. 

Grammar specially cultivates the memory and the 
conceptive faculties. 

Mathematics and Natural Philosophy cultivate the 
reasoning powers chiefly in relation to the acquisition 
of necessary truths; they also cultivate habits of 
abstraction. 

The Physical Sciences exercise the observing and 
perceptive faculties, cultivate all the reasoning powers 
in the highest degree, and lead us to appreciate the 
force of moral evidence. If properly taught, they also 
foster the sentiment of devotion. 

Poetry and Works of Fiction specially cultivate the 
imagination, the taste, and the moral feelings. 

Biography, History, and Narratives specially 
awaken the faculty of attention, and cultivate the mem- 
ory. They also exercise the moral affections, and lead 
to the formation of habits of reflection and self-inquiry. 

Music cultivates the taste, and refines and elevates the 
moral feelings. 

Intellectual and Moral Philosophy cultivate all 
the higher faculties of our nature, and induce habits of 
abstraction and self-examination. 



260 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



Part III. 

ON THE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF DIFFERENT 
METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTION. 

The systems of instruction, at present in use, are — the 
individual system; the collective system ; the monitorial, 
or pupil-teacher system; and the system of home instruc- 
tion. 

These systems may be carried out on any of the plans 
or methods of giving instruction which we have de- 
scribed. The most important of these methods are as 
follows; the synthetic and analytic methods, which may 
be either demonstrative or dogmatic; the interrogative, 
or catechetical method; the simultaneous method, which 
maybe employed in the ordinary form of questioning, or 
in connection with the elliptical method; the lecturing 
method. 

SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTION. 

I. The Individual and Collective Method. 

The individual system may be used with advantage in 
small schools, especially if it be occasionally associated, 
with collective teaching, and in constant co-operation 
with the system of home instruction. By the individual 
system of teaching, the master is more fully able to adapt 
his instruction to the peculiar capabilities of his pupils; 
at the same time, it is not so much calculated to engage 
their sympathies, or to arouse the principle of emulation, 
as collective teaching. Individual teaching may be 
conducted after any of the leading methods or forms of 
communicating know^ledge; that is to say, it may be 
either synthetic or analytic, demonstrative or dogmatic, 
lecturing or catechetical, <fec. If the upper classes of a 
school are well supplied with good text-books,individual 
instruction becomes very effective, when it is associated 



SYSTEMS OF INSTEUCTION. 251 

with self-instruction. In this case, the master has merely 
to give an occasional glance at the work of each pupil, 
atid to give him, time after time, such hints as may be 
required to stimulate him in proceeding with his work. 
Individual instruction, as it is practised in most of our 
Scottish schools, is merely supplemental to the system of 
home education. Here the parents are the real instruc- 
tors, and the master merely directs, controls or tests the 
progress of his pupils, Avho are to get up their lessons, 
tasks, &c., under the parental authority. 

But, whatever may be the advantages of individual 
instruction, it is utterly impracticable, as a general sys- 
tem, in the common schools of this country. An easy 
process of arithmetic will show that a master of a school 
containing one hundred and twenty children could not 
give more than five minutes' individual attention to each 
boy in the course of a day! So that, after all, we have 
not to consider the abstract question, — whether the indi- 
vidual or the collective system is the best; but which of 
the two systems, under existing circumstances, is best 
calculated to give the greatest amount or insteuc- 

TION TO THE greatest NUMBER IN A LIMITED TIME. A 

modern teacher shows his tact and skill by multiplying 
and subdividing his power, and by acting on numbers at 
once. The great point to be considered, in the manage- 
ment of a large school, is, not how you may rapidly ad- 
vance a few scholars, but how you should classify, 
arrange and instruct a large number of boys, differing in 
age, knowledge, and capacity, so as to give the greatest 
amount of instruction to them, as a whole. A master 
who is skilful in the management of tiumhers and who 
has practised the collective system, may teach a hundred 
boys at one time, on certain subjects, adapted for gallery 
lessons, as efficiently as he could teach one boy: and with 
a proper arrangement of classes, and a large blackboard, 
he could give more efficient instruction to a class of 
twenty or thirty boys, on almost any subject of educa- 
tion, than he could give in the same time to a single pu- 
pil. A good teacher always seeks to employ his energies 
to the greatest advantage: he rarely, if ever, wastes his 



252 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

Strength upon one or two boys; what he does for the 
benefit of one boy, he does in such a way as to conduce 
to the benefit of his whole class. While he teaches l^is 
own class, he, at the same time, directs the movements of 
half a dozen contiguous classes, placed under the man- 
agement of his monitors or pupil-teachers. The motive 
power of tbe master is everywhere performing available 
work: amid the wear and tear of his various avocations, 
he economizes the expenditure of his labor, by constantly 
keeping in view the principle of acting with the greatest 
efficiency on the greatest possible number. Like the 
machine which drives a hundred spindles, weaves cloth, 
blows furnaces, &c., he never departs from the great end 
of his labor, or for one moment relaxes his directing 
and all-controlling power. But all this requires great 
skill, energy, decision and conscientious perseverance. 
The modern schoolmaster holds no sinecure's place. 

The collective system of teaching should never be em- 
ployed in schools where the pupils are not properly 
classified. The pupils to wiiom a collective lesson is 
given, should be nearly about the same stage of mental 
culture. 

II. Home Education. 

We have already shown that the master of a family is 
God's vicegerent in relation to the education of all the 
members of his household; and that every good teacher 
will act in co-operation with a proper system of home in- 
struction. The school subjects most eligible for home 
study are — religious knowledge, writing, drawing, arith- 
metic, grammar, geography, and reading lessons. Those 
subjects are best adapted for home exercises which admit 
of being exactly defined, and of being readily tested: 
boys work the most industriously when they can see the 
results of their labor. Hence it is that drawing and 
arithmetic are the best of all subjects for home study. 
Drawing cards should be given to the pupils to be copied 
at home; and exercises on arithmetic, grammar, geog- 
raphy, &G.y should be given them out of text-books, 
which they should be allowed to take home with them. 



SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTIOX. 253 

The master sbould always have a certain time set apart 
for reviewing and correcting these home exercises: with 
a proper system of management, a few minutes every 
morning would suffice; and occasional hints should be, 
time after time, given to the parents, relative to their 
duties in carrying out the system of home instruction. 
Such a course would not be without its influence on the 
character of the parents themselves. 

We suggest the following, as a routine of home les- 
sons, for the upper classes in an elementary school : 

Monday Evening . . . Drawing and Practical Ge- 
ometry. 

Tuesday " ... Definitions of Grammar, 

Grammatical Exercises, 
and Map-Drawing. 

Wednesday " ... Arithmetic, or Algebra, and 

Tables. 

Thursday " ... Texts of Scripture and 

Writing. 

Friday " ... Arithmetic, Drawing, and 

Reading Lessons. 

III. The Pupil-teacher System. 

We regard the puj^il-teacher system as one of the 
greatest improvements which have taken place in modern 
education. No school, whatever may be its character, 
should be without 23upil-teachers. The advantages of the 
system are tw^o-f old: (1) It constitutes the best nursery 
for schoolmasters. (2) It forms the great element of 
the order and organization of a large school, and gives 
power and efficiency to the whole system of instruction. 

The pupil-teachers should be adequately paid, and the 
master should always set apart a certain time for their 
special instruction, not only in the ordinary subjects of 
technical learning, but also on the subject of method as 
applied to education. The master should register the 
progress which they make in the different subjects of in- 
struction, and he should especially note down the manner 



254 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

in which they teach their classes, in order that he may 
be able to correct their faults, and to stimulate and im- 
prove their teaching powers. The master should always 
base his opinion of the teaching power of pupil-teachers 
upon the results of their teaching, and not upon any 
preconceived theory. The master should keep a regis- 
ter for recording these results. This registration of 
the results of different methods of teaching will not only 
advance his own knowledge of method, but will also 
form the proper basis of his criticisms upon the lessons 
given by his pupil-teachers. 

The j)upi]-teachers should prepare all their lessons, 
and the master should inspect their notes, before the 
lessons are given to the children. 

ly. The Mixed System. 

Our best schools are conducted on a mixed system of 
instruction, comprehending all the leading features of 
the particular systems just described. The peculiar 
combination of the systems must always be determined 
by the nature of the school and the peculiar circum- 
stances connected with it. In very large primary schools 
where the pupils can never reach a high standard of 
technical attainment, the system of instruction must 
necessarily consist almost exclusively of a combination 
of the collective and pupil-teacher systems; but in a 
small school, or where the school is provided with a 
good staff of pupil-teachers or assistant masters, the in- 
dividual and home systems of instruction should have a 
greater degree of prominence given to them. The indi- 
vidual and home systems should, if possible, be frequent- 
ly emj)loyed in the instruction of the advanced classes. 

METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 
I. Synthetic and AnxIlytic Methods. 

As a general rule, the synthetic method is best adapted 
for elementary instruction. In order to employ this 



METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 255 

method with efficiency, the teacher should first analyze 
the subject which he is about to teach, that is to say, he 
should separate it, or subdivide it into its elements or 
parts, and then he should put these elements or parts 
together, in such a manner as to conduct the minds of 
his pupils, step by step, to the general principles which 
he wishes to inculcate or establish. After the teacher 
has given a synthetic development of a subject, he may 
frequently show, with advantage, how the same subject 
may be treated analytically. Demonstrative geometry 
affords us some of the best ilhistrations of these two 
methods of teaching. 

The analytic method of teaching is best used in connec- 
tion with text-books and reading-books. After the pupils 
have read a certain portion of a book, the teacher may 
proceed to analyze the subject-matter, by the usual 
method of interrogation. At the same time we cannot 
help observing that a really good master will never allow 
himself to be fettered with text-books, however good 
they may be in themselves. A crutch is only useful to 
the lame and halting; so, in like manner, a text-book is 
only useful to him who is too feeble to depend upon his 
own resources. 

These methods may be frequently used, with advan- 
tage, in combination with each other. The most general 
rules of education have their exceptions, and, therefore, 
no teaclier should blindly adhere to any general rule. 

EXAMPLES OF THE SYNTHETIC AND ANALYTIC METHODS 
OF TEACHING. 

Let US suppose, for example, that the teacher wishes 
to explain to his pupils the law of descending bodies; 
then he would proceed in the following manner: — (1) 
By the synthetic method. If a stone be let fall from the 
top of a high tower, you will find that it will move more 
and more rapidly as it falls. During the first second of 
its descent it will fall through the space of sixteen feet. 
At the end of the second second of its descent it will 
have fallen tlirough four times sixteen feet; here the 



256 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

time is two seconds, and the number of feet is found by 
squaring the 2, and multiplying by 16; that is, the space, 
in feet, is equal to 2^ x 16. At the end of the third 
second of its descent it will have fallen through nine 
times sixteen feet; here the time is three seconds, and 
the number of feet is found by squaring the 3 and multi- 
plying by 16, that is, the space in feet is equal to 3- x 16. 
And so on to any number of seconds. You see, then, 
that the number of feet passed over by a falling body in 
any given number of seconds is found by squaring the 
number of seconds and multiplying that result by 16; 
thus,the number of feet passed over by a falling body in 
three seconds is equal to nine times sixteen feet, or one 
hundred and forty-four feet. (2) By the analytic method. 
The space passed over by a falling body increases with 
the square of the time; that is to say, the space in feet is 
equal to the square of the number of seconds of the body's 
fall multiplied by 16. Thus, in two seconds the num'ber 
of feet through which the body will fall is equal to 2 
squared multiplied by 16, or 64 feet; and so on to any 
other number of seconds. 

Generally speaking, the analytic form is more concii^e 
than the synthetic. 

II. Interrogative ok Catechetical Method. 

The interrogative or catechetical method of teaching 
may be used for two distinct purposes: (1) For the pur- 
pose of examination, or for simply testing the progress of 
the pupils. (2) For the purpose of conveying instruction : 
when interrogation is employed in this form, we have 
called it the method of suggestive interrogation. This 
method may be used either for individual teaching or for 
collective teaching: the observations which we have to 
give on this method are especialh' applied to the latter. 

The rules to be observed in using the method of inter- 
rogation in these two forms, are, in some respects, very 
different. But the following rules are common to both 
forms : 



TWO FORMS OF I2sTEIlK0GAII0X. 257 

PRIKCirLES AXD RuLES COMMON TO THE TWO FORMS 

OF Interrogation. 

1. Tlie answers may be simultaneous or individual, 
according to circumstances; but tbe teacber sbould al- 
ways tell his pupils when be requires tbem to answer 
simultaneously, or wben individually. Wben individual 
answers are required, all tbe pupils who are prepared to 
answer tbe question sbould bold up their bands; and 
then tbe master sbould name tbe boy wbombe wishes to 
give the answer; if tbe boy's answer be incorrect, tben 
tbe master must call upon another boy; and so on. 

2. Tbe language used by tbe teacber sbould be as 
simple and concise as possible. Every question put by 
tbe teacber sbould admit of a definite answer. The 
questions should be adapted to tbe capabilities of tbe 
pupils, both as to tbe matter and language. If a ques- 
tion is not at once understood by tbe pupils, tben tbe 
master must change the form of language, or be must 
subdivide the question until be is understood. Long- 
answers sbould never be exj^ected from young children; 
on the other band, the more advanced boys sbould be 
accustomed to express their ideas in good language. 
Tbe teacber should not be satisfied with indefinite or 
incomplete answers. 

3. Never put questions which simply require a Yes, or 
J^'o, for an answer. 

4. The questions should be given in sucb an order as 
to form a systematic and progressive development of 
tbe subject. Rambling questions sbould never be put 
imtil the whole subject has been gone over. 

5. Random answering should always be checked; at 
tbe same time, a due amount of quickness in answering 
should be cultivated. 

6. Children sbould be accustomed to answer questions 
in tbeir own language. 

7. Tbe subject-matter of a question sbould be some- 
times varied in form, so as to require a different form of 
lauguage in tbe answer. As tbe same facts may be viewed 
in different aspects and relations, tbe teacber sbould vary 



258 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

the form of his questions so as to embrace these different 
aspects or relations; and he should always put those 
questions first which take in the most striking or im- 
portant of these facts or relations. 

8. The pupils should be sometimes called upon to 
question each other. 

9. The teacher should express his approbation when a 
good answer has been given to a question of more than 
ordinary difficulty. 

10. The eye of the teacher should be constantly upon 
all the pupils in his class, and whenever he detects the 
slightest symptoms of inattention on the part of any of 
them, he should at once put a question to the individual 
on the matter that had just been explained. 

11. Questions should be put at the three following 
stages of instruction: — (1) at the commencement of the lesson, 
in order to determine the knowledge of the class on the 
subject upon which the lesson is to be given, to excite 
the curiosity of the pupils, and to enable the teacher to 
adapt his instruction to their knowledge and capabilities; 
(2) during the lesson, in order to secure the attention of 
the pupils, and to make them more thoroughly acquainted 
with the subject of the lesson; (3) after the lesson, in order 
to give a general view of the whole subject, and to 
make the pupils fully master of it. 

Special Rules for Examination Questions. 

1. The questions should be restricted to the subject of 
examination. The questions should form a strict anal- 
ysis of the subject-matter. 

2. The question should not contain any hint or clue to 
the answer. 

3. Simultaneous answers should never be taken as 
decided tests of progress. 

4. Not the slightest assistance should be given to the 
pupil in framing his answer. 

5. In order to give the pupils a requisite amount of 
confidence, the questions should be short and easy at first, 
and then, as the examination advances, they should be 



SUGGESTIVE IXTEEROGATIOX. 259 

gradually increased in difficulty. Herein lies the secret 
tact of a first-rate examiner. 



Special Principles and Rules relative to Sug- 
gestive Intekkogation. 

1. The questions and observations of the master, and 
the answers given by the pupils, should together form a 
sort of conversational lecture. In order to sustain the 
continuity of the lecture, the gradations or steps should 
be easy and natural. The teacher should endeavor to 
make the pupils take an equal share of the lecture. 
Every question, taken in connection with the explanatory 
remarks which may accompany it, should lead to, or sug- 
gest, the answer. The teacher should tell his pupils so 
much of a thing, and leave them to find out the remain- 
der. The question and its answer should, be logically 
connected with each other: (1) the question may contain 
the premises — the answer, the conclusion; (2) the 
question may contain the facts — the answer, the general- 
ization or deduction; (3) the question may contain the 
ideas — the answer, those ideas differently arranged or 
exj^ressed in another form of language. 

2. The teacher should frequently preface his questions 
with an exposition of facts and principles; but the ques- 
tions themselves should always be so framed as to re- 
produce the facts and principles in the pupil's own 
language. 

3. The method of suggestive interrogation being es- 
sentially synthetic, the system of questions should pro- 
ceed according to a systematic and progressive order of 
development; that is to say, facts should precede general 
principles, expositions should go before abstract rules, 
the concrete should lead to the knowledge of the ab- 
stract, the simple to the complex, the familiar to the un- 
known, and so on. 

4. The teacher should never pass over a question until 
it has been fully answered. If one boy does not answer 
it, then it should be put to another boy, and so on; and 
if the pupils fail in giving a satisfactory answer, then the 



260 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

teacher should go over all the previous steps agaiu,adding 
some fresh explanations, so as to lead them to the proper 
answer. The teacher should never directly tell them the 
answer; he should rather show them how to find it out. 
If the answer given by the pupils is incomplete or in any 
way defective, and yet as good as the teacher might rea- 
sonably expect from them, then he should supply them 
with the complete answer, taking care not to alter the 
language of the puj^ils, excepting wher^ it is absolutely 
necessary. 

5. The questions requiring simultaneous answers 
should be few and exceedingly simple. 

6. The teacher should put the most difficult questions 
to the more advanced boys in the class; and thus make 
them become instructors of those who have made less 
progress. 

Examples of Good and Bad Examination Questions. 

Suppose the pupils of the class to have read the last 
seven verses of the twenty-sixth chapter of St. Matthew's 
Gospel, and that the master proceeds to give the fol- 
lowing examination questions: 

Questions. 

1. Where was Peter when the first damsel spoke to 
him ? 

2. What did she say to him ? 

3. What was his answer to her ? 

4. Did he deny Jesus before all the people ? 

5. Where was Peter when the second damsel spoke to 
him? 

6. Did he deny Jesus again ? 

7. How did he deny Jesus tlie second time ? 

8. Who next charged Peter ? 

9. What reason did they give him for believing that 
he was one of the followers of Christ ? 

10. How did Peter answer them ? 

11. What took place immediately after Peter had 
denied his Lord for the third time ? 

12. Of what did the crowins: of the cock remind Peter ? 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 261 

13. Why did Peter deny our Lord ? 

14. What sin did Peter commit, and what aggravated 
this sin ? 

15. What did Peter do when he remembered the 
words of J esus ? 

16. What caused him to weep bitterly ? 

17. Good people are very sorrowful when they find 
that they have been lead into sin. What made Peter 
so sorrowful ? 

RemarJcs on the Questions. 

Nos. 4 and 6 are bad questions, for they simply require 
yes or no for the answer. No. 10 is not a good question, 
for it is not exact enough, and the proper answer to it is 
too long. Nos. 13 and 16 would require some explana- 
tions to be given by the teacher. No. 14 should be given 
in two distinct questions. No 17 is rather too suggestive 
for an examination question. 

No. 4. should be put in the following form: — Before 
whom did Peter this time deny Jesus ? And No. 6 
would be better put as follows: — What did Peter say to 
the maid? No. 13 might be preceded by a question 
something like the following: — What would they have 
done to Peter if they had known that he was a follower 
of Jesus ? And No. 16 might be preceded by the ques- 
tion: — What reminded Peter of the falsehood he had 
told ? How should people feel when they find that they 
have committed a great sin ? or, What do people do 
when they feel very sorrowful ? What made Peter so 
very sorrowful ? 

Questions on any given portion of the Scriptures may 
be put in a great variety. of forms, more or less eligible: 
thus the text upon which Question 15 is given may be 
broken into the following forms of questions: — When 
did Peter go out ? What did he do after he went out? 
What were the words of Jesus which Peter remembered? 
How many times did Peter deny his Lord before the 
cock crew ? And so on. 



262 philosopht of education. 

Examples of Suggestive Interrogations. 

No. 1. — On Peter^s Denial of our Lord. 

Supi30sing the same portion of Scripture to liave been 
read, then the following suggestive questions may be 
given: — 

1. While Peter sat without in the palace of the high 
priest, a damsel came unto him. (l) Who came unto 
Peter ? (2) Where was Peter when the damsel came to 
him? And so on. 

2. This damsel had no good intentions towards Peter. 
She wanted him to he condemned, and put to death with 
Jesus. What did she say to Peter ? 

3. Peter had not the boldness to tell the truth. He 
was afraid to die for his Lord. What answer did he 
give to the damsel ? 

4. Wishing, perhaps, to escape further notice, he went 
out into the porch, but here he met with another tormen- 
tor, for another maid saw him, and said to the people 
that thronged the porch of the temple. This fellow was 
also with Jesus of Nazareth. (1) To whom did she say 
this? (2) Where was Peter when this second charge 
was made ? (3) What low name did she call Peter? 

5. Peter got more alarmed. He lost all command of 
himself, and added sin unto sin, — he not only again 
denied his Lord, but denied him with an oath.^ and spoke 
slightingly of him. (1) In what manner did Peter this 
time deny Jesus ? (2) What words did he use in refer- 
ring to.Jesus ? (3) What sin did Peter here commit, 
besides falsehood ? 

And so on throughout the remaining verses. 

No. 2. — On the Diurnal Motion of the Earth, 

Suppose the pupils to have read some single book on 
this subject (see Tate's Astronomy, page 13); then the 
teacher might question them in the following man- 
ner: — 

Teacher. If I hold an orana^e before a candle at 



EXAMPLES OF SUGGESTIVE INTERROGATION. 263 

night (this should actually be done), how much of the 
surface of the orange will be enlightened ? 

Teacher. How much of the surface will be in the 
shade ? 

T. Now, if I turn the orange around, the parts in the 
shade will be brought within the light. After I have 
turned the orange completely around, how much of its 
surface will have been brought within the light of the 
candle? 

T. How much of the earth's surface does the sun 
enlighten at one time ? 

T. By what means is every part of the earth's sur- 
face brought within the light and heat of the sun ? 

P. The earth is made to turn around upon its axis 
in the course of every day. 

T. (Turning a globe around.) Now where is the axis 
in this revolving globe ? Is there a real axis, or only an 
imaginary one? 

P. The axis is only imaginary, and it is tlie line 
about which the globe appears to turn. 

T. What have you now to say respecting the axis of 
the earth ? 

P. That it is the line about which the eaith appears 
to turn. 

T. What are the j^oles upon the earth ? 

P. The two points where this imaginary axis meets 
the earth's surface. 

T. On what point is my finger now placed ? 

P. On the North Pole. 

T. (Tracing the equator with bis pointer.) What is 
this line called, and how is it placed with respect to the 
poles ? 

P. It is called the equator and lies at the same dis- 
tance from either of the poles. 

T. How does the equator divide the globe ? 

P". Into two equal parts. One is called the northern 
hemisphere, and the other the southern hemisphere. 

T. Upon what hemisphere is my hand now placed ? 

P. The northern hemisphere. 



264 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

T, Is there any other way in which the changes of 
day and night might be produced? 

P. Yes; the sun might turn around the earth in the 
coarse of a day. 

T. If a poor woman wanted to roast a joint of mutton 
before the fire, what would she do in order to have 
every part equally roasted ? 

jP. She would tie a piece of string to the mutton, and 
make it spin around before the fire. 

T. Is there any other way in which this might be 
done ? Now think. 

P. The fire might be made to turn around the meat. 

T. But which of these methods is the better? 

P. The first method, certainly; because it must be 
far less trouble to make the meat turn around before the 
fire, than to make a machine for turning the fire around 
the meat. 

T. What would you say if a man proposed to do this? 

F. That, although he might show some ingenuity, yet 
he would be a very foolish person. 

T, Now it is equally ridiculous to suppose that the 
sun turns around the earth. It is too monstrous for us 
to conceive it possible, that Almighty God, who is the 
fountain of all wisdom and goodness, could effect any of 
His purposes by the agency of means which it would 
appear unsuitable, even on the part of his creatures, to 
employ. 

III. The Simultaneous Method. 

In this method, all the pupils in the class are allowed 
to speak at once. Here, in order to secure a uniformity 
in the responses, the questions put to the class should be 
very short and simple. One great object to be served 
by this form of teaching is to give vitality and a tone of 
sympathy to the class. It also economizes the time of 
the master, by enabling him to direct his energies to 
large numbers at once. Its great defect is that it 
creates noise and confusion in the school, and thereby 
interferes with the instruction that may be going on in 



THE SIMULTANEOUS METHOD. 265 

the other classes. It is best practised, as a means of 
iastruction, in connection with the elliptical method of 
teaching, and when gallery lessons are given to four or 
more classes combined. 

The teacher must guard against the following evils 
connected with the practice of this method: — 

1. Some eager, vain boys will answer before the 
others. 

2. Some boys will defer their answer until they catch 
the answer of the leading boys in the class. 

3. Some boys will remain silent. 

4. There will sometimes be a confusion in the answers, 
especially when the answers are too long. 

By a little tact on the part of the teacher, all these 
evils may be guarded against. 

This method may be advantageously used in the 
examination of large classes, when it is requisite that the 
examiner shall economize his time. We shall after- 
wards have occasion to notice this form of its applica- 
tion. 

The plan of answering questions simultaneously is 
also an excellent way of fixing simple and important 
facts in the memory. The name of a great man, for 
example, is recited aloud by all the boys of a class, they 
then spell the name aloud, and lastly the master writes 
it upon the blackboard. Thus all their senses are brought 
to bear on the thing to be remembered, — how can they 
ever forget it ? 

There are few subjects which may not be taught with 
tolerable efficiency, in the largest schools, by a well- 
organized method of simultaneous answering. 

The best course for a teacher to follow is to vary his 
methods of instruction. After teaching for a sufficient 
length of time by the method of suggestive interroga- 
tion, he should indulge his pupils with a few simultane- 
ous answers; and then he may close his lesson with cat- 
echising two or three boys singly before the whole class, 
so that all the boys, if they are disposed to listen, may 
derive some benefit from the individual instruction. 



266 thilosophy of education. 

Example of Simultaneous Teaching after the 
Catechetical Method. 

Subject of the lesson — Peter's denial of our Lord, 
Matthew, chap, xxvi., verse 69. 

Teacher. Who came to Peter as he sat without in the 
palace ? Pupils. A damsel. T. With whom did she say 
Peter was ? P. With Jesus. T. Jesus is said to be of 
a certain place — what place did the damsel name? 
P. Galilee. T. Where is Galilee ? P. In Palestine. 
T. Point your fingers to it on the map. And so on. 

The Elliptical Poem of Teaching. 

The advantages of the elliptical form of teaching are 
as' follows: — 

1. The ellipsis does not break upon the continuity of 
the lesson or narrative. 

2. It is generally more concise than the usual forms of 
question and answer. 

3. It gives a variety of form to the lesson, and to a 
certain extent relieves that censorious-like character of 
catechetical lessons. 

4. It engages the sympathies of the cliildren, and more 
completely gives to the lesson the character of a common 
lecture, in which the pupils take a part. 

The following principles and rules should be observed 
in practising this method of instruction: — 

1. The word or words to be supplied by the pupils 
should be short and easy. At the same time, the word 
to be supplied should awaken some intelligence on the 
part of the pupils. 

2. Ellipses should be associated with direct questions. 

3. The word or words to be supplied should not be 
doubtful or ambiguous. Take the following examples: — 

(1). In comparing 6 and 9, some teachers would say, 
" 9 is greater than — ." Here the word to be supplied 
might be any number less than nine; and besides, 
the boys would most likely say six without ever 
thinking about the matter. In this case, it would be 



ELLIPTICAL FORM OF TEACHING. 267 

better to ask the questioD, '* Whether is 6 or 9 the 
greater?" 

4. The ellipses should be single words or simple 
phrases. 

■ 5. Arithmetic, and other subjects of this kind, should 
be rarely taught by the elliptical method. 

6. As a general rule, an ellipsis should be equivalent 
to a good question. (See the rules given in relation to 
the suggestive method of interrogation.) Take the 
following examples : — 

[The words intended to be supplied by the pupils, are 
printed in Italics.] 

(1) "The color of common ink is Hack.'''' Here this 
is equivalent to the question — " What is the color of 
common ink ? " 

(2) " Ink is llachP Here the word to be supplied by 
the pupil is doubtful, for it might be red^ or liquid^ or 
any other property of the ink. 

(3) " When the flame of a candle is applied to hydro- 
gen gas, it will lurny Here this is equivalent to the 
question — " What will take place when the flame of a 
candle is applied to hydrogen gas?" "It will burn." 
Now, in the place of lurn, some boys might say, ignite ; 
but this variation in the form of the response would 
be rather an advantage than otherwise, provided the 
teacher embraces the opportunity of explaining to his 
pupils how different words may be properly employed 
to express the same idea or thing. 

Examples of the Elliptical Method of Teaching. 

Subject of the lesson — Peter's denial of our Lord. 
Matthew, chap, xxvi., verse 69. "Now, Peter sat with- 
out in the palace : and a damsel came unto him^ saying, 
Thou also wast with Jems of Galilee. But Peter, being 
afraid to tell the truth, denied before them «//, saying, 
I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone 
out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto 
the people collected in the porch. This fellow was also 
with Jesus of Nazareth. And Peter, still more afraid, 



268 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

again denied with an oath^ I do not know the »2«w," that 
is, he wickedly pretended not to know Jesus. And so 
on. 

IV. The Constructive Method. 

This is perhaps the best form of the synthetic method 
of teaching : its fundamental idea is that of progressive 
development ; it, in fact, embodies the essential features 
of all our most approved modes of primary instruction. 
The first elements of Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, 
Mechanism, Geography, and Grammar may be efficiently 
taught by this method. 

V. Illustrative Method. 

By this method, we convey instruction to the minds of 
children by means of pictorial representations, diagrams, 
models, and experimental illustrations, addressed to the 
senses, or by pictures addressed to the imagination. 

Pictures may be either descriptive or historical, that 
is, they may depict objects, animals, persons, &c., or they 
may represent scenes and events. A child reads a 
picture as we do a book. Good pictures of animals not 
only give the shape, color, and relative size of the 
animals, but they also represent the peculiar habits of 
the animals. A good picture of a tiger, for example, 
shows a child, at a glance, what are its structure and 
habits, — how it lives, on what it lives, and in what 
region of the earth it lives. The child reads the history 
of great events in a good picture, — the grand features 
of the events, the scenes amid which they transpired, 
the characters of the different actors, and so on, all 
readily fix themselves in the child's mind. Picture les- 
sons constitute one of our most important means of 
primary education. On the subject of pictures, as ad- 
dressed to the imagination, see pages 147 and 195. 

In teaching (such subjects as geography and mecha- 
nism), models, and other material aids of instruction, 
are most invaluable. 

Experimental illustrations give the matter-of-fact form 
of abstract laws and principles. 



THE LECTUKING AND THE MIXED METHODS. 269 



VI. The LECTUKix<i Method. 

Strictly speaking, a contiDuous style of lecturing is 
not teaching. But when lecturing is accompanied with, 
or followed by,a close course of questioning, it becomes 
an efficient form of instruction, as applied to adults or to 
an educated class of boys. Simple conversational lectures 
on the science of common and useful things, illustrated 
by easy and familiar experiments, have contributed 
very much to raise the standard of intelligence in our 
elementary schools. The experimental apparatus em- 
ployed in these lectures should be of the most simple 
kind, and, for the most part, constructed out of the 
common articles of household use. Expensive instru- 
ments should never be placed in the hands of ordinary 
teachers, for the skill requisite for using an instrument 
is, generally speaking, in proportion to the delicacy of 
its construction. It is not desirable, nor would it be ex- 
pedient, if even it were desirable, that teachers should 
become finished manipulators: the great facts and laws 
of physical science may always be demonstrated to 
children by the aid of apparatus which is within the 
reach of almost every respectable householder. 

VII. Mixed Method. 

In order to sustain the interest of ohildren, the 
teacher should vary his methods of instruction. The 
very best methods, when uniformly followed for any 
length of time, become dull and monotnous, and, as a 
necessary consequence, the pupils cease to feel any 
interest in the lesson. Variety in method, as well as 
variety in the subject-matter, should form an essential 
feature in all school instruction. When the pupils get 
tired with questions, the master must try ellipses; and 
when they get tired with ellipses, he must have recourse 
to pictorial representations, or experimental illustrations, 
accompanied with a sort of tete-a-tete lecture: after 
having changed the methods, in this manner, he may 
return to his first method, for it will then have re- 



270 PHILOSOrHY OF EDUCATION. 

gained its original freshness. The intelligent teacher 
should modify, arrange, 'and combine his methods so as 
to form a harmonious whole suited to the peculiar cir- 
cumstances of his school. 

On this subject, the author of "The Educator's 
Instruments" observes: — "The evidencing of truth to 
children lays a heavy and continuous tax upon the 
teacher's inventive faculties; for the same lesson, in- 
volving precisely similar principles, however oft re- 
peated, needs the dress of new language, must come 
with new illustration evoked by the various indications 
of the taught; and as nothing so tends to clarify and 
intensify one's views as looking at them through varied 
and harmonizing media, so nothing will lead to such 
just and clear apprehension as placing the same truth 
repeatedly before the young, in language and with 
ilhistration as if spontaneously called forth at the 
moment." 

VIII. Ox THE Repeoduction of Lessons in Writing. 

The advanced boys in a school should be frequently 
required to reproduce the lessons given to them by 
the master. This plan gives efficiency to all the methods 
of instruction ordinarily used in our schools; it forms 
an almost necessary adjunct to the method of lecturing. 
We have already fully explained the advantages to be 
derived from this exercise (see page 119); it is, there- 
fore, only necessary in this place that we should make a 
few remarks respecting the duties of the master, in rela- 
tion to these written exercises, and point out certain 
artifices whereby the amount of his labor may be 
lessened, without materially infringing upon the effi- 
ciency of the plan. 

After the time alloted to the reproduction of the 
lesson has expired, the master should first ascertain the 
number of boys that have completed the exercise. He 
should then call upon about half a dozen of these boys 
taken at random, to give their exercises. Tie then 
assumes that these exercises may be taken as average 



PLANS FUR ECONOMIZING TIME. 271 

specimens of the work of the class, and that the errors 
found in them will give him a tolerably good idea of the 
errors contained in all of the others. He rapidly corrects 
the errors and notes down the imperfections in these 
specimens. He then writes the corrected j^assages on the 
blackboard, and explains to the whole class the nature 
of the errors and blunders which have been committed. 
We shall now consider, more fully, some of those 
artifices which tend to economize the time and labor of 
the master. 

IX. Ox CERTAIN Plans or Artifices for Economizing 
THE Time of the Master in the Exa3iination of 
Classes, or, it may be, in extending and thoroughly 
grounding the Knowledge which the Pupils may 
have acquired. 

These plans or artifices should, of course, be altered 
or modified to suit the peculiar tastes and capabilities of 
the master. The following examples are given as 
illustrations of the main features which ought to char- 
acterize all such plans or artifices; these main features 
are: 

(1) The master should act upon the whole of the 
pupils of his class, at once, rather than on individuals. 

(2) He should get all of his pupils to act perfectly in 
concert, or exactly together. 

1. An Examination Lesson on Spelling. 

After requesting, in a cheerful tone of voice, all the 
boys in the class to prepare their slates and pencils for 
writing down the words which he is about to give them, 
he recites the words slowly and distinctly. As he dic- 
tates, word after word, the pupils write them on their 
slates, in the same order. When the words have been 
all written, he calls upon the whole class to spell the 
words simultaneously, exactly as they are written on 
their slates, leaving a moment's pause between every 
two consecutive word to allow those who are wrong 
an opportunity of placing a mark at each mis-spelt 



272 PHILOSOPHY of education. 

word. The teacher then requests the boys to count the 
number of their errors, aud to report the same to him 
He next gives a rapid glance at tlie slates, to see that all 
is right, looking with more care at the slates of those 
boys in whose honesty he has not the fullest trust. 
The master will now be able to register the average 
attainments of the class. But, if instruction be spe- 
cially his object, he will write upon the blackboard all 
those words which have been mis-spelled, giving, at the 
same time, such remarks as lie may deem necessary, 
relative to the rules of spelling, or the quality of the 
writing. 

2. An Examination Lesson on Arithmetic. 

The teacher or examiner recites, in a distinct tone of 
voice, the arithmetical problem which he requires the 
class to solve. After a sufficient time has been allowed 
them for working out the question, he calls upon those 
boys who have finished to hold up their hands, or, it 
may be, to stand. He then says — "Let all those boys 
hold up their hands, who have the following answer"; 
he then reads out the answer, and at once sees the 
number of boys who have done the question correctly. 
He then desires the boys who have not worked the 
question correctly, to mark the erroneous figures in their 
answers. A rapid glance at a few slates will generally 
be sufficient to act as a check upon any unfair dealing 
on the part of the boys. In some cases, it may be ad- 
visable to inspect the slates of those boys who had not 
finished the question. But the teacher should be careful 
how he gives any countenance to idleness, or how he 
wastes his energies on individuals. If instruction be a 
special object, the problem should be done upon the 
blackboard, accompanied with an exposition of prin- 
ciples, &c. The teacher should frequently call upon the 
more advanced boys to give this exposition. 

Respective Advantages of the three great Methods of Exam- 
ination. 

There are three great methods of examination, viz.: 



PRErARATION OF I>KSS0X8. 27o 

the simultaneous, tlie indivRlu.-il, aii<l the method of 
written answers. 

1. T]i£ simultaneous method of examination awakens a gen- 
eral interest, and takes up little time; but we cannot 
easily arrive at a correct estimate of the attainments of 
the class by the exclusive use of this method. 

2. The individual method of examination is more rigid and 
more to be relied on than the simultaneous method; but 
it takes up more time, and leaves the great body of the 
class comparatively unemployed while each individual 
is being examined. 

3. The method of written answers is the most exact and 
searching of all the methods, while, at the same time, it 
keeps all tlie pupils engaged; but it is long and tedious 
as regards both the writing of the papers and the inspec- 
tion of them. 

A judicious examiner will not fail to avail himself of 
all the advantages arising out of the use of the three 
Tnethods. 

X. Ox THE PRErARATION OF LeSSOXS. 

No teacher should give a lesson until he has made 
himself thoroughly master of the subject. He should 
also fix in his own mind how he should treat it, both as 
to arrangement and method. He should, generally, 
draw out a sketch of the lesson in the form of notes, but 
he should never refer to these notes while he is giving 
the lesson; he ought rather to have these notes fixed in 
his mind before he begins the lesson. His notes should 
be concise and methodical; they should form leading 
points in the lesson, with which he should associate the 
leading train of ideas which are to constitute the real 
knowledge to be given to the pupils. He should not 
confine himself to any set form of language; and his 
questions, as a general rule, should be framed at the 
time of asking them, No teacher should become a slave 
to books or notes while he is giving a lesson; books and 
notes should be the passive tools of the master — not he 
the subservient slave of them. 



274 PHTLOSOPHAT OF KDUCATION. 

The master should carefully revise the notes of his 
pupil-teachers; and lie should never allow the pupil- 
teachers to give a lesson without they are fully prepared 
to give it with efficiency. lie should always place be- 
fore them a high standard of teaching power. Every 
pupil-teacher should be provided with a book for enter- 
ing dosvn his notes of lessons. 

The form of the notes of lessons must necessarily vary 
with the nature of the subject, and the age of the boys 
to whom the lesson is to* be given. But there are, no 
doubt, certain general principles of arrangement which 
are common to all subjects. The following are the notes 
of a lesson on ink, supposed to be given to the upper 
class: — 

Notes of a Lesson. 

Subject — Common Ink. 

ProperUe!i:—^A{\mil, black, aad slightly adhesive, 

JL^«i<?. — Used for writing on white paper. The use depends upon 
tlie properties — why liquid — why black — why slightly ad- 
hesive? What do we write upon the blackboard with? — Why 
we cannot write upon white paper with white chalk, &c, 

JIo)r made. — Experiment. To a solution of sulphate of iron 
(green copperas) add a solution of nut galls — a black precipi- 
tate is formed. The addition of some gum helps to keep this 
black substance from falling to the bottom, and also to make 
the ink adhere to the paper. 

IIow to take ink stmns out. — Experiment. To the black liquid 
formed in the last experiment, add a few drops of oxalic acid. 
The color is at once destroyed. 

Words to be explained, and their meanings illustroted, — Adhesive, 
—mention some things that are adhesive. — Sulphate of iron, 
— what it is like — what it is composed of — where it is found 
— and what it is used for. Nut galls, — what are their prop- 
erties — where are they got? Precipitate — its meaning. Ox- 
alic acid — what it is, &c., — found in plants, &c. 

When a teacher is about to give a lesson on any pro- 
posed subject, his first inquiry should be, "Am I suffi- 
ciently acquainted with the subject ?" Ilis next inquiry 
should be, " Ho^v should I treat the subject ?" If he is 
not sufficiently acquainted with the subject, he should 
at once study it, and seek information upon it. If he 



C^TALIFICATIONS OF THE SCUOOLMASTKli. 275 

iloes not know how to treat the subject, he shouhl at once 
fieek information from those who are properly qualified 
to give it. 

When the subject of the lesson requires experiments or 
practical illustrations, he should not spare a little trouble 
or expense to render himself fully qualified for the per- 
formance of his work. Experimental illustrations should 
be repeated, again and again, until he finds that he can 
perform them with perfect certainty and success. 

XI. Ox THE Periodical Examination of Classes and 

THE Registration of Progress. 

The whole school should be examined at stated inter- 
vals, w^ith the view of registering the progress of the 
pupils,and also for the purpose of remodelling the classes. 
These intervals will of course vary according to the cir- 
cumstances and peculiar relations of the school, but the 
interval should, in no case, exceed a quarter of a year. 
Whatever may be the period fixed for these general ex- 
aminations, it should be strictly adhered to, and the ex- 
aminations and registrations should be thoroughly carried 
out. When any boy is found qualified to enter a higher 
class, or, on the other hand, when any boy has not kept 
pace with the progress of his class, no feelings of delicacy 
should prevent the master from making the necessary 
transfer. We shall afterwards have occasion to treat of 
the diflierent forms of school registers. 

XII. On the Qualifications of the Schoolmaster in 

relation to his Professional Dutii.s. 

The qualifications of the schoolmaster may be viewed 
in the three following aspects: — with respect to his 
attainments; to his capabilities; and to his character. 

The Teacher's Attainments, considered in 
relation to his Office. 

The following attainments may be considered essen- 
tial to his success as a teacher, whatever may be the 
nature or peculiar character of the school. 



276 ruTLosorHY of edccatiox. 

1. He slioiild be tliorouolily acquainted with the fol- 
lowing subjects: — The leading doctrines and narratives 
of Scripture ; mental and common arithmetic; reading, 
wriling, and spelling; English history; and the princi- 
ples of teachnig. 

2. He should have a fair knowledge of the following* 
subjects: — Drawing, mensuration, and practical geom- 
etry; geography and astronomy; elementary grammar, 
composition, and general history; elementary algebra, 
to the end of quadratic equations, together with a little 
demonstrative geometry; industrial mechanics, and some 
simple course of experimental i)hiloscphy. 

,/ It is highly desirable that his mind should be well 
stored with general knowledge, that he should have a 
ready command of language, and that he should be able 
to express his ideas wnth fluency, clearness, and pre- 
cision, upon any subject w^ithin the range of his knowl- 
edge. Profound attainments in any technical subject 
of knowledge are scarcely of any value to him as an 
elementary teacher. His knowledge should be varied, 
rather than profound. An acquaintance with Latin or 
(irreek,or the higher branches of mathematics and natural 
philosophy, would rather interfere with his usefulness as 
an elementary teacher. At the same time, it is necessaiy 
to bear in mind that a schoolmaster should knoAv a good 
deal more than he has to teach. AVhatever he has to 
teach, he should know thoroughly, at least as far as he 
may have to teach it. Thus, to teach little boys drawing, 
it is not necessary that he should become an artist; to 
teach English, that he should know French; to teach 
simple equations, that he should know surds; or to teach 
some of the most important principles of geometry, that 
lie should know the fifth book of Euclid. 

All that technical knowledge which leads the mind of 
the teacher aw'ay from the subjects of elementary edu- 
cation tends most undoubtedly to compromise his useful- j 
ness as an elementary teacher.x It is true, people talk J 
much about the discipline which such subjects giv^e to 
his mind, as if the knowledge which is essential to bis 
duties as a teacher, did not sufficiently exerci8e,discip]ine^ 



QUALIFri^'ATIOXS OF THE SCHOOLMASTER. 277 

and task his intellectual energies. Would it not be better 
to raise our standard of his know]edge in physical science, 
and in the principles and art of education, than to exact 
from him such an amount of knowledge in those technical 
subjects of learning which have no direct bearing upon 
the duties of his profession? But we suppose that in- 
spectors of schools and masters of training institutions 
will always regard their own course of collegiate edu- 
cation as the proper type of the system which should be 
pursued in the training of schoolmasters.* 

The Teacher's Culpabilities and Character consid- 
ered IN relation to his Office. 

A teacher should be a pious, conscientious mau; his 
talents should be, at least, respectable; and he should 
have a decided predilection and aptitude for teaching. Ife 
is only requisite that we should make some observations 
relative to the qualification which we have called aptitude 
for teaching. 

Aptitude for Teaching, 

The most essential of all qualifications for teaching is 
that peculiar faculty which we call, for the w^ant of a 
better name, aptitude for teaching. Aptitude for teach- 
ing! what is it? There is no mistaking it, when we see it. 
Everybody recognizes it, when it is presented to his 
notice. Is it a quality of the head or the heart, or does 
it belong to both? Is it a natural or an acquired gift? Is 
it an instinct, or a habit acquired by efforts, repeated from 
the earliest dawn of reason? Does it grow spontaneously 
by imperceptible gradations of- development, or is it a 
faculty dependent u[)on the growth of certain intellectual 
and moral powers? 

We witness certain teaching effects, and too readily 
rest satisfied with attributing them to what we call 
aptitude for teaching, as if it were some original and 
mysterious faculty, without at all seeking to discover the 

*Her Majesty's Inspectors now give examination papers on meth- 
Q'\ in connection with all the leading subjects of primary educa- 
tion. 



278 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

chain of circumstances, and the qualities of mind and 
character which have contributed to form this aptitude. 
But we cannot allow the subject to remain in this unphi- 
losophical condition of mysticism. Tlie aptitude for 
teaching must undoubtedly be a qualification resulting 
from the development of certain intellectual and moral 
faculties of our nature. Let us endeavor to analyze this 
remarkable qualification, that is to say, let us endeavor 
to discover those qualities, intellectual and moral, wnth 
which it is invariably associated, or, rather, with which it 
is connected by the constant relation of cause and eii'ect. 
It will be instructive, not only to ascertain what such 
a man -mvst be, but also what he may not be. 

1. TFhat a man having an aptitude for teaching may not he. 
(1.) He may not be a man of great technical attain- 
ments. (2.) He may not be a man of comprehensive 
mind, or possessing gi-eat reasoning powders. ('3.) lie 
may not be a man of robust frame. 

2. What a man having a great aptitude for teaching m list he, 
(1.) He must have a love for children, and a knowledge 
of their tastes, habits and capabilities. (2.) He must 
be a man of a kind and benevolent disposition. (.'3.) He 
must love knowledge and feel a pleasure in communi- 
cating it. (4.) He must be a man of fervid imagination, 
and of great enthusiasm, decision, and force of character. 
(5.) He must be a man of respectable general attain- 
ments. (6.) He must have considerable fuiency of 
speech, and poweis of ilhistration and exposition. (7.) 
He must have faith in the efficacy of instruction, as a 
means of ameliorating the condition of society. (8.) He 
must be a man of quick and observing habits, and must 
be in the constant habit of reflecting and reasoning upon 
the various methods by which kuoMlcdge may be coni- 
municated to children. 

Now as all those ([ualities, essential to great aptitude 
for teaching, admit of cultivation, it necessarily follows^ 
that the aptitude for teaching also admits of cultivation 
in the same degree. This aptitude for teaching, there- 
fore, is no more instinctive or innate than any of the intel- 
lectual or moral faculties of our nature can be said to be., 



SCHOOL REGISTEKS. 279 

XIII. Ox School Registers for recording the 
Results of different Systems or Methods of In- 
struction, AND also for testing THE CAPABILITIES OF 

Teachers in relation to these Methods. 

These registers sl)oiild be regularly and faithfully tilled 
up by the head schoolmaster, who is supposed to be ac- 
quainted with all the circumstances and facts necessary 
for doing so, and who is supposed to test the results of 
the various lessons given by the pupil-teacher or by the 
assistant teacher, as the case may be. The teacher who 
gives the lesson is supposed to adhere strictly to some 
definite method or combination of methods throughout 
the lesson, whether it be given accordiugto the interrog- 
ative method, or any other particular method, or accord- 
ing to a combination of two or more methods. 

No doubt all intelligent teachers have, more or less, 
formed certain general views, based on their experience, 
respecting the relative merits of different methods of edu- 
cation. But these views are too frequently based upon a 
few incidental facts, and are very rarely the result of a 
cautious, candid, and systematic induction of facts whicli 
have been carefully observed and faithfully recorded, and 
w'hich are so comprehensive and determinate as to em- 
brace all the circumstances which may in any way affect 
the question. 

The relative merit of any two methods will, in gen- 
eral, be tested by the ju'ogressof the same class of pupils 
wdien taught by the different methods, under the same 
circumstances. But as the efficiency of a particular 
method may depend not only upon the age, character, aud 
attainments of the pupils, but also upon the peculiar 
adaptation of the method itself to the mind and capabili- 
ties of ti]e teacher, it is necessary that these conditions 
should be fully recorded in the register. If sufficient 
data of this kind were collected, we should then be able to 
arrive at the follovviug generalizations with considei'able 
certaint)^: — 

1. Under a certain range of capabilities of the teacher, 
and under a certain average condition of intelligence on 



280 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

the part of tlie pupils, what metliod, or combination of 
methods is best adapted for teaching certain given sub- 
jects. 

2. WljJit method, or combination of methods, is best 
adapted, under ordinary circumstances, to a teacher of 
given qualifications and capabilities. 

3. What method, or combination of metliods, is most 
suitable, under ordinary circumstances, for the instruc- 
tion of boys of a given age, character and attainments. 

4. What qualifications and capabilities are best calcu- 
lated to form a good teacher. 

The following are some of the systems and methods 
most eligible for being tested in this w^ay: — 

1. The comparative advantages of the individual and 
collective methods of teaching. To w^hat extent should 
individual instruction be carried, when combined with 
the method of collective teaching? and in what subjects 
may the respective methods be most efficiently em- 
ployed? 

2. The comparative advantages of the synthetic and 
analytic methods, applied to the teaching of different 
subjects. 

:3. The method of suggestive interrogation compared 
w^ith the dogmatic method, or with the purely elliptical 
form of giving collective lessons. 

4. The familiar style ol" lecturing, on the best recog- 
nized form, compared with the plan of using reading- 
books or text-books. Or the comparative efficiency of 
a system which a<lopts certain advantages belonging to 
each. 

5. The advantages arising from home instruction, 
when associated with ceitain forms of teaching. 

G. Comparison of different modes of teaching children 
to read, or to write, or to spell. 

I have used this plan of registration in connection with 
the model lessons which I have had occasion to superin- 
tend; and it has led me to several important generalizations 
relative to methods of instruction, to their adaptation to 
the mind§ of different masters, and to their suitableness to 



IIEGJSTRATIO^' OF RESULTS. 281 

different classes of pupils; and also with respect to those 
qualifications, <fec., on the part of the master, which are 
most likely to form the superior teacher. It is not im- 
probable that some of these generalizations may not 
have been based upon a sufficient number of facts, or 
that they may not have embraced some hidden circum- 
stances which mi^ht vitiate the deductions. Be this as 
it may, they constitute the chief results of the experi- 
ence of my life as a practical educator. ; 

General Conclusions derived from the Writer's 

Registration of the Results of Methods, &c. 

1. Relative to Systems of Teaching. 

1. Comparatively few men teach well upon the ellip- 
tical plan of giving lessons. The efficiency of this plan 
is much increased by being associated with direct inter- 
rogation. Bible lessons are peculiarly adapted to the 
elliptical form of teaching. 

2. It is much more easy to lecture than it is to teach. 
Lecturing, especially in an elementary school, should 
always be accompanied with a close system of question- 
ing. 

'?). Collective teaching is most efficient when it is fol- 
lowed by individual instruction — by individual examina- 
tion — or by the reproduction of the subject-matter of 
the lesson in writing by the pupils. 

4. Oral instruction, given in the form of fanjiliar lec- 
tures by a superior teacher, is in general a much more 
efficient mode of instruction than the plan of teaching 
from reading-books or text-books, even when accompa- 
nied with an analysis of tlie subject-matter which has' 
been read by the class. 

5. Suggestive modes of interrogation should never be 
employed as tests of progress. The questions which we 
use for the purpose should not contain the slightest clue 
to the answer. 

6. As a general rule, having some important excep- 
tions, the progress of the })upils is in proportion to the 
apparent amount of attention which they give to the 
lesson or lessons. 



282 I'HILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

2. Relatm to the Qualifications of the Master. 

1. Teachers of limited capacity, or whose conimaiul of 
language is limited, invariably teach best with text- 
books, or by the individual system of instruction. 

2. Men of fervid imaginations, having a great com- 
mand of language and enthusiasm of character, almost 
invariably become superior teachers. 

.3. Decision of character almost invariably forms an 
element in the qualifications of a superior teacher. 

4. Men who are deficient in general knowledge and in 
enthusiasm of character, are generally bad teachers, even 
though they may possess great technical acquirements, 

5. All earnest man, imbued with the love of children, 
is rarely a bad teacher. 

6. The love of teaching is generally associated witli 
the capability for it; but the converse does not so fre- 
quently hold true. 

7. A man of superior teaching power teaches well by 
any rational method. But he will always teach best by 
that method which is suited to his peculiar capabilities. 

8. Men generally teach badly when they attempt to 
teach too much, or when they do not duly pre})are their 
lessons. 

9. Presence of mind, and that self-confidence wdjich is 
based on self-knowledge, are essential elements in a good 
teacher's character. 

10. Success in teaching is more dependent upon the 
capabilities of the master for teaching, than upon his 
technical ac(piirements. Teaching-power is not always 
associated with superior talents or great acquirements. 

11. A teacher must practise a new method until he is 
fully master of it, before he can come to any conclusion 
as to its efficiency. Teachers are too prone to attribute 
their failures to the method they employ, rather than to 
the improper Avay in which they use it. 

12. The best methods aj-e the worst instruujents which 
can be put into the hands of incompetent teachers. The 
best and most intellectual methods require a corres})ond- 
ing skill on the part of the teacher, to use them with 
efficiency. 



KK(iISTRATIO]S OF JIKSULTS. 283 

3. Relative to the Pupils. 

1. The more exciting modes of instru(*-tioii are best 
suited to phlegmatic children, or to tlie children of the 
poor. Children of precocious minds do not require 
exciting modes of teaching. 

2. Collective teaching associated with individual 
questioning, etc., should invariably be used in teaching 
boys from six to twelve years of age. ^ihe advanced 
boys should have a larger amount of individual teaching. 

3. Evening exercises, when the parents are able and 
willing to co-operate with the teacher, add greatly to the 
efficiency of school instruction. 

4. Children, in manufacturing and mechanical dis- 
tricts, evince considerable a[)titu<le for acquiring a 
knowledge of geometry, mechanism, and construction. 
Indeed, as a general rule, the predilections of children 
have a leaning towards the pursuits of their parents. 
School routines should always have a due regard to the 
taste's, wants, and capabilities of the pupils. 

Forms of Entry in the Register. 
Where there are a great many entries to be made in 
the columns of a school register, it becomes desirable 
that we should have some concise and graphic mode of 
symbolizing the results which are to be recorded. The 
symbol which I have adopted to express any word, is 
simply the first letter of the vvord, and, where ambiguity 
may arise, the first two or the first three letters of the 
word. The numerals, 1, 2, 3, are used to express the 
amount of any qualification, or the extent to which any 
plan or method may be carried. These numerals, aftixed 
to any symbol expressing a particular qualification, indi- 
cate the amount or degree of that qualification, that is 
to say, whether it is moderate, fair, or excellent. Teach- 
ers, of course, will modify or extend these symbols to 
suit their convenience, or they may perhaps find it most 
convenient to adhere to the ordinary form of registra- 
tion. These symbols, it will readily be understood, do 
not form an essential feature of the proposed plan of 
registration. 



■J. 

•A 


14 

Incidental 
Remiirlib. 


No.inClass, 18. 

No.in Class, 24. 

A little Appa^ 

ratus useful. 


M 11 


Black Board 

Slates. 

Household 

Articles. 


12 

School Ar.l.i- 


Gallery 
with Desks. 

Gallery 
with Desks. 


2 

S 

D 


[7 J9|)un b8»jS 


c:i cq s : i 


s ii 


« so 3 :: s 


» If 


Chiefly Agri- 
cultural. 
Tradesmen, 
Intelligeut. 


: !ii 


»H « :::::: 


9S«aaAV 


>. >. = 3 3 
O C-4 




6 

Time of Lesson 
or Ltsssons. 


.• II 
15 




•lJU95B.ts 

LO^q? 0} noi?«(a4 ff^ m s 3 s 
U! lUMB «!H 


« 
^ 

s 

-« 
gg 


1 






CO -uosssT 1 C, „• - ^ - 
am .|o joal'qns ! ^ ^ - - - 




4 
^ 1 


Pi-i -• fti - = 3 i 




JO 9Ul«M 


«: «■ . = . 



o 2 sic* 

^ 3 (^ eS 

^ '.|T 

- tH be 

H '. = - 
1.1 r: 

S ^ £ ^ S 

2 I h4 I g 

f a .2 s § 
-'.if ? ^ 

-< S I. oj 3 
■&- i^-^^ ^ 

— ^ " h o) — ' ii 

fc I - « » ^ 

o _; G ?3 a ^ 

^•~,- ;j s a;. *< 

2 -^ u 7 be 

« ^•- b£ I u 

.-rJ ?J Ol O 

* — be 5 I 

:- « C ^" I. 
c c "J - >> 
- . ^ =^ -r 

c ^ o t^ .tr 









c » o 

53 t^S 



ss^ 



rt c a 






-2 *'l^' 



■ a 



^ii 



-.2 « 
I 



16 



a, 



- OT3_ 



a-^ ail 

O (K ° t. O ^ 

illllil 




■'^^ 



cj <» feu's 2 
'5.5 bsTs • 

« 2-o§|S3 









BO, 



?|5 

" -^ rt - 



5 g 



2-S-l 5 2.5 2.^15 



a '^ ~ 



J i^:^ 






S«.5 



5S).2 ill 



28/ 



Part IV. 

ON THE APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT SYSTExMS AND 
METHODS TO THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF ELE- 
MENTARY EDUCATION 

The SoRirxuRES; IIihtoky; etc. 

Bible lessons should always be given, in an elementary 
school, on the collective system of teaching. The follow- 
ing rules may be advantageously observed in giving 
these lessons. 

1. The passages on which the lesson is given should be 
read by the class. In the course of the reading, the 
meaning of the words should be familiarly explained to 
the children, and the general purport of the lesson should 
be constantly kept before them. 

2. The teacher should picture out the subject-matter of 
the lesson, after the manner described in connection with 
the cultivation of memory (see p. 195). This will, gener- 
ally, be best done by the method of ellipses, occasion- 
ally varied by individual or collective interrogation. 

3. The subject should be elucidated by the method of 
contrasts and resemblances (explained in connection with 
the cultivation of the memory, see p. 187). 

4. The progress of the class should be tested by the 
individual method of instruction. 

5. The duties to be learned from the lesson should be 
fully explained. This will generally be most efficiently 
carried out by the method of suggestive interrogation, 
or by the method of ellipses. 

6. Notes of the lesson should be written, with con- 
ciseness and distinctness, upon the blackboai-d. 

Sketch of a Bihle Lesson. — Subject: Trial of Abraham's 
faith. Genesis, chap, xxii., verses 1 to 13. Mixed 
method: interrogative, elliptical, illnstrative, &q. 

1. The reading lesson. Words and phrases to be ex- 



280 PIIILOSurHi' OF KDLCATIOX. 

])l;ilne(l in tlie coarse of the reiiding: —The bind of 
3Ioriah, biirnt-offeriiig, worship, ttc. 

2. The picture. [The v/orcls to be supplied l)y the 
pupils are printed in italics.] 

Abraham was a very good man, and had great faith oi; 
trust in his God: Abraham had one smi, called Isaac, one 
darling boy, that he loved more than anything in the 
tvorld: Abraham was very happy with his son Isaac : * 
God was about to put Abraham's faith and obedience to 
a very great trial: Let us see how God tried Abraham's 
faith and obedience. God told Abraham to take his son 
Isaac to a mountain a great way off, and offer him there 
for a hurnt-offering. Oh ! what a trial for Abraham's 
obedience this was, to slay his only son as he did lambs 
and calves and rams, upon tlie altar as a hurnt-offering. 
But Abraham loved and feared God so much that he 
never doubted for one moment that whatever God com- 
manded him ^o<fo would be for his good^ — he did not 
even ask why he should slay his son, because he was sure 
that God had a good reason for what he required him to 
do. Abraham then got up early in the morning, and 
saddled his ass, and took two of the young men with him, 
and Isaac his son, and cut some wood for a burnt-offering, 
and started off towards the place Vs\\^yq God had told him 
to go. After they had travelled for three days and three 
nights,they at last came in sight of the mountain: Abra- 
ham lifted up his eyes and saw the jt?/a<?^ afar o/. And 
he told his young men to stop and take care of the ass, 
while he and his son went up the mountain. Behold 
Abi'aham and his son, as they climb the mountain; — 
Isaac carries the heavy burthen of wood for the hirnt- 
offering, and Abraham carries tlie fire to kindle the 
wood, and in his hand is the terrible knife with which he 
is to slay his only son as an offering to the Lord; — how 
sorrowful Abraham looks, — God has commanded him to 
offer his son as a burnt-offering. Isaac seems at a loss 

* If the pupils do not fill the ellipses, the teacher should ask the 
question : 

" Wliat was the name of Abraham's son ? " 



ArPLICATIOX OF SYSTEMS AND MKTIIODS. 287 

to know wliat \\\s father is about to do with liim. When 
they came to the place which God had told Abraham of, 
Abraham laid tlie wood in order, and bound his son and 
hxid him upon the altar. His hand is stretched forth, — 
4ind he is about to phmg-e the knife into his son, but the 
iingel of the Lord arrested tlie stroke, saying to Abraham 
out of heaven, — " Now I know that thou fearest God, see- 
ing that thou hast not withlield thy son, thine only son^ 
from me." 

3. Contrasts and Resemblances. — Contrast Abraham's 
character with that of Bahiam or with that of Jonah. 
Compare Abraliam's readiness to sacrifice his only son 
at the command of God, with the great sacrifice which 
Christ offered up, upon the cross, for the sins of the 
world. 

4. Examination. To what land did God command 
Abraham to go to offer up his son ? How was Isaac to 
be offered? Kor how many days did they travel before 
they came in sight of the mountain? Who went with 
Abraham to the place of sacrifice? What did he say 
to the young men before he left them ? &c., <fec. 

5. Duties to he leariied from the lesson. When we are sore 
beset with trials, what should we always do ? How- 
ever hard our lot in this world may be, our duty is 
simply to obey God, who always knows what is best for 
us. If we simply follow the commands of God, however 
strange they may appear to our corrupt nature, He will 
find a way of escape for us. God often tries our faith 
as he did Abraham's of old, by requiring us to perform 
painful duties, but we, like him, should obey God, and 
leave the results in His hands, knowing that all thinys 
will at last work out for the yood of them that fear 
Him, 

6. Notes written on the hlackhoard. God's command to 
Abraham, — given to try his faith; his journey to Mo- 
riah; — Abraham and his son went alone to the place of 
sacrifice; — the angel of the Lord prevented Abraham 
from slaying his son; &c. 



288 niiLOSoriiY of kducation. 

History axd Sub-tkcts of Gexeral Ekadix(i. 

History, aiul other subjects of general read hi g, should 
"be taught by the same method as that which we have 
just described in relation to the teaching of the Scrip- 
tures. 

Reading and Speelixg; Etymology; Grammaii, 

These subjects should be taught, in our elementary 
schools, upon the collective system of instruction. 
While one boy reads or spells, the other boys must 
listen. Important passages should be read simultane-. 
ously by the class, and sometimes words should be spelt, 
letter after letter, in the same manner. In the course of 
the reading, the master wil) frequently have occasion to 
correct the pronunciation, indistinct utterance, the ac- 
cent and the intonations of pupils. Whenever he does 
so, he should always endeavor to put his reasons into 
the form of a general rule. Above all things, the pupils 
should be taught to read with intelligence. 

Very young children should be taught to read from 
large class-cards, having pictures of the leading subjects 
of each lesson. The look mid say plan of teaching to read 
is certainly the best, especially when it is combined 
with some of the most striking principles of the phonic 
method. In like manner, the best plan for teaching- 
children to spell is to get them to write out the lessons 
which they Have read; the eye, in my opinion, is a bet- 
ter guide to correct spelling than the ear. The lessons 
for teaching little children to read should contain fre- 
quent repetitions of the same word in each lesson. T^t 
us take an example: 

Specimen of a Heading Zesson/or Little Children, 

Tom is a good boy. A good boy does what he is told. 
I told Tom to be good. John is a bad boy. A bad boy 
does not do what he is told. And so on. 

When the child is able to read words of three letters, 
he should then be taught to read words of four or more 



THE PHONIC SYSTEM. 289 

letters; and after words of one syllable he sliould be 
taught to read words of two syllables; and so on. 

In the course of these reading lessons, the intelligent 
teacher wjill not fail occasionally to avail himself of some 
of the most prominent principles of the phonic system of 
reading. Certain combinations of letters almost invariably 
represent certain elementary sounds; as, for example, — 
the sound of ad, in bad, lad, sad, mad, &c.; the sound of 
ay in bay, lay, say, may, &c. ; the sound of un in bun, 
sun, &c.; the sound of sh in shut, shark, shave, shall, &c.; 
the sound of ch in child, chide, chick, &c.; and so on. 

The ordinary box of reading letters should be used in 
showing the child how the elementary sounds go to form 
the sound of the word. Thus in showing the sound of 
the word shave^ the teacher first gives the sound of the 
letters «/*, next that of ave, and then putting the letters 
together he gives the compound sound shave. 

To follow out the phonic system of reading, in all its 
details, is neither practicable nor desirable. The fact is, 
this system requires the pupils to make analyses of 
sounds, whicb we ourselves never do in the practice of 
reading. The rules of pronunciation in our language 
are so very complicated, that it seems to be almost ridic- 
ulous to attempt to teach reading on a strictly phonic 
plan. By the practice of re.ading, on the hoh and say 
system (aided by occasional hints relative to the elemen- 
tary sounds of the most common combinations of letters), 
the child gradually and insensibly acquires the pronun- 
ciation of words. On the teaching of the alphabet, see 
page 186. 

The etymology of technical words and philosophical 
terms (particularly those that are derived from the Greek 
and Latin) should be given in connection with reading 
lessons. But the teacher should bear in mind that the 
derivation of a technical term does not supersede the 
necessity of giving the full meaning of the term, as it is 
used in our language; the^chief purpose which etymology 
serves, in the elementary school, is to aid the pupils in 
remembering the signification of technical terms. Im- 
portant woi-cls and phrases, which occur in the lesson, 



290 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

should be written, in large characters, upon the black- 
board, with their meanings and derivations. 

Grammar should also be taught in connection with the 
reading lessons. But besides such desultory exercises on 
Grammar, the definitions and principles should be syste- 
matically taught by collective lessons, and by simple text- 
books upon the subject. 

Grammar more fully considered. 

Grammar may be taught by a constructive method, or 
by a method of progressive development. A first course 
of instruction should comprehend all the simple parts of 
speech without their inflections, &c.; the particular and 
most familiar form of each definition should be explained 
before the general or most abstract form; and where the 
definition contains a comprehensive statement, it should 
be broken down into its component parts, and after each 
part has been successively explained, their relative con- 
nection, or dependence, should he distinctly pointed out. 
A second course of grammar should comprehend the in- 
flections of words; and a third course that of the analysis 
of sentences and the rules of syntax and composition. 
These rules should be based on the analysis of sentences; 
for by so doing we follow one of our most certain general 
principles of method, viz., that of teaching the concrete 
before the abstract. We have too much parsing in our 
schools, and too little of the practice of composition. 
Teachers should get their pupils to construct sentences 
as early as possible; for it should be borne in mind that 
parsing is only a means for the attainment of an end, 
that is, to enable the pupils to write and speak with 
accuracy and facility. All our exercises in composition 
should have some actual object, they should express 
familiar ideas, or describe things and events which 
actually exist; see page 149. The old plan of teaching 
syntax (that is, by giving bad English to correct under 
each rule) has not yet been superseded. In grammar, 
as in many things else, we seem to know what is right 
by seeing what is wrong; and we are the better able 



ENGLISH GRAMMAE. 291 

to follow what is right, by constantly endeavoring to 
avoid what is wrong, 

A lesson on Grammar. Subject — The noun. Mixed 
method, interrogation, ellipses, &c. 

Now, my children, I am going to show you what a 
noun is. Listen! 

A NOUN is the name of an object or thing; as, book, 
apple, table, &c. 

Hat is the name of a thmj, — what kind of word is hat? 
Write the following sentence on your slates: "Pears 
and apples grow on trees." Now put a line ^below all 
those words which are nouns. 

A NOUN is the name of an animal; as, dog, cat, horse, 
&c. 

Cow is the name of an animal; therefore, the word 
cow is a noun. And so on to other examples. 

A NOUN is the name of a person; as, John, Thomas, 
Milton, &c. 

Andrew is the name of a person; therefore, the word 
Andrew is a noun. And so on to other examples. 

A NOUN is the name of a place; as, London, York, 
Leeds, &c. 

Hounslow is the name of a, place; therefore, the word 
Hounslow is a noun. 

A NOUN is the name of anything which we can speak 
of as existing; as, chair, whiteness, darkness, &c. 

I can speak of table as a thin^ which exists; therefore, 
the word table is a noun. I can speak of the soul as 
existing; therefore, the v/ord soul is a tioun. And so 
on. 

Now let us collect together all that has been said 
about a noun. 

A NOUN is the name of an object, an animal, a 

PERSON, A PLACE, OR ANYTHING WE CAN SPEAK OF AS 
EXISTING. 

Give me as many words as you can think of, which 
are nouns. 

Why is the word book a noun? Why is the word 
HEAVEN a noun ? And so on. Put a mark beneath all 



292 PHIT.OSOrHY OF KDUCATION. 

the nouns in the following sentences: — Thomas has got 
a dog. London is a large city, &c. 

A lesson on Grammar. Subject — The adjective. Mixed 
method. 

An ADJECTIVE is a word which points out the qua.lity 
of a noun; as, large, good, black, &c. 

I have a sharp knife. Now what word here points 
out the quality of the knife ? Sharp, then, is an adjec- 
tive, for it points out or expresses the quality of the 
knife. 

He gave me some apples Now all the words 

which I put before the word apples to make sense are 
adjectives, — find out as many of them as you can. Small^ 
large^ round, ripe, unripe, sour, red, sweet, &c. 

An ADJECTIVE LIMITS the meaning of a noun; this, 
many, fourth. And so on. 

Now let us collect together all that has been said 
about an adjective. 

An A.DJECTIVE IS A WOKD WHllCH POINTS OUT THE 
QUALITY OF A NOUN, OR LIMITS ITS MEANING. 

Put a mark beneath all the adjectives in the following 
sentences: — 

A horse is a noble animal. The cow gives fine milk. 

Why is the word the an adjective ? Why is the word 
nolle an adjective? And so on to other examples. 

Lessons on composition and the analysis of sentences. 

1. To enlarge the subject. Simple sentence, — " The 
dog is ill."* 

What is the subject of this sentence ? What is the 
predicate? 

Now I shall enlarge the subject of this sentence, that 
is to say, I shall add something which shall tell us all 
about the dog. 

" The dog is ill." 

1. The large dog is ill. 

2. The dog, Fompey, is ill. 

3. The carrier'* 8 dog is ill. 

*nexe we suppose this to he really a fact. 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 293 

4. The dog of four years old is ill. 

5. The dog, being very fat, is ill. 

And putting all these enlargements of the subject in 
one sentence, we have: — 

The carrier' % large dog, Fompey, of four years old, being 
very fat, is ill. 

What purpose is served by these enlargements of the 
subject? What do they tell us? First, that the dog is 
large; second, that his name is Pompey; third, that he 
belongs to the carrier; fourth, that he is four years old; 
and fifth, that he is very fat. What kind of word have 
I used to enlarge the subject in No. 1? The adjective 
laraje. And so on to the others. 

Enlarge the subject of the following sentence; first, 
by an adjective; second, by a noun in apposition; and 
soon: "The boy reads." 

2. To extend the predicate. Simple sentence, — 
"The boy reads." 

The predicate may be extended in the follovring dif- 
ferent ways: — 

"The boy reads." 

1. The boy reads fluently. 

2. The boy reads for information. 
(b) The boy reads at home. 

3. The boy reads every day. 

4. The boy reads standing. 

In (1) the predicate is extended by an adverb \ in (2) 
by a preposition or by a prepositional phrase; in (3) by 
a noun in the objective case; in (4) by a participle used 
adverbially. 

In (1) and (4) we use an adjunct of manner; in (2) 
an adjunct of cause; in (b) an adjunct of place', in (3) an 
adjunct of time. 

Show the different w^ays in which the predicate in the 
following sentence may be extended: "The boy runs." 

Point out the subject, predicate, and object of the 
following sentence: "-4 bad boy, called Thomson, hurt 
little William very severely.^' What words enlarge the 



294 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

subject? What word qualifies the subject? Wh at words 
extend the predicate ? 

Observation. — Proceeding in this way, the pupil will 
be taught the art of composition. But in ail this there 
ig comparatively little knowledge of parsing required. 

Arithmetic. 

All the junior classes, in an elementary school, should be 
taught arithmetic on the collective system. The syn- 
thetic method of demonstration, first explained, at least 
in this country, in the writer's treatise on the Principles of 
Arithmetic, is certainly the best adapted for elementary 
instruction. The suggestive method of interrogation is 
most generally applicable to the teaching of demonstra- 
tive arithmetic. 

In teaching common or slate arithmetic, the follow- 
ing general rules should be observed : — 

1. All the demonstrations should he given distinctly 
upon the blackboard. 

2. The essential data of the question (not the whole 
question) should be written, in a proper order, on the 
blackboard, especially when the question contains three 
or more data. 

3. The teacher should fully explain every step of the 
process as he writes it down. It is a bad plan to work 
out the whole question, and then to proceed with the 
explanation. 

4. The pupils should take a part in the investigation. 
The master should require them, time after time, to tell 
him what quantities he must write down at the different 
Bteps of the investigation. 

Let us take a few examples of this method of teaching 
arithmetic. 

1, Lesson on the Addition of Fractions. 

Let it be required to add one-half and three-fourths 
togetiier. 

Here, before we can add these fractions together, we 
must bring them to the same part of unity, or, to speak 



ARITHMETIC. 2.95 

more simply, we must bring them to bits of the same 
size. Let us suppose that we have to find how much the 
half of a loaf added to the three-quarters of a loaf will 
make. What do I take as the unit here? (Ans. A loaf.) 
Now, how do we get the half of a loaf? (Ans. By- 
cutting it into two equal parts.) How do we get the 
tbree-fourths of the loaf? (Ans. By cutting the loaf 
into four equal parts, and taking three of them.) Now, 
how should you put the half bits into quarter bits ? 
(Ans. By cutting each half into two equal bits, for then 
we should have the whole loaf cut into four equal bits.) 
Very well. Now, how many fourths v\;^i]l there be in 
one half ? (Ans. Two fourths.) So that you have to put 
together, or add, two fourths and three fourths. What 
will they make ? (Ans. Five fourths.) But I want you 
to give me the sura in mixed numbers. How many 
■whole loaves would you have in five quarter loaves ? 
(Ans. One, and a quarter more.) That is to say, the sura 
of one half and three quarters will be equal to one and a 
quarter. 

I am going to show you how to do this question ia 
another way. 




Let a stick or a line (A B) be divided on the upper 
side into two equal parts, and the bottom side into four 
equal parts. What will each of the upper parts be 
called? What will each of the bottom parts be called? 
Look at the figure, and tell me how many fourths there 
are in each half. And so on, as before. 

The teacher should also do the pame thing by the di- 
vision of a space. 

2. A Lesson on Rule of Three. 

Let it be required to find the cost of 9 books, when 
the cost of a dozen is 8«. \d. 

Let us first write the essential data of the question on 
the blackboard. 



290 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION.. 

DATA. 

Cost of 12 is 8^. Id. ; the cost of 9 is required. 

SOLUTION TO BE WRITTEN ON THE BLACKBOARD. 

Cost 12 books = 88. Id. 
. '. Cost 86 books = 3 times 8s. l(i. = 24^. dd. 

Odd •-}// 
. -.Cost 9 books = one fourth part of 2is. M. = :1Z^^_ = 6^. O^d. 

4 

After tbe teacher has written down the language, "Cost 
12 books =j" he asks the class, "What shall I put this 
equal to ? " After he has received the answer, he fills 
it in, and then asks, "Why is it equal to 8«. 1<?. ?" 
"How many books have we to find the cost of?" 
" Now if we can get the cost of 36 books,we may readily 
get the cost of 9, as you will see, when we proceed with 
the solution." After writing down, "Cost 36 books =," 
he asks, " Will the cost of 36 books be more or less than 
the cost of 12 books?" "Why?" "You are quite 
right; three times the number of books will cost three 
times as much." " Now having got the cost of 36 
books, how are we to get the cost of 9 ? " " Exactly so; 
one-fourth the number will of course cost one-fourth the 
price." And so on. 

The more advanced boys should be sometimes called 
upon to give a demonstration on the blackboard. 



Mental Arithmetic. 

This subject should be taught on the collective system, 
in connection with the method of interrogation. The 
boys prepared with an answer to the question proposed 
by the master, should hold up their hands, and the master 
must then call upon some boy to give the answer; and so 
OH to the other artifices described in connection with the 
subject of collective teaching. Young children should be 
practised for some time in mental calculation, before 
ihey are taught anything relative to the symbols and 
notation of numbers. Strokes, counters, balls,&c., should 
be taken as the representatives of numbers, and all the 



aKOGKAPHY. 297 

leading properties and operations of arithmetic should 
be demonstrated by the use of these objects, before any 
technical modes of calculation are attempted. All the 
processes should be thoroughly demonstrative, and no 
rules should be laid down independently of the investi- 
gations. All tricks and clap-traps of mental calculation 
should be conscientiously avoided. The boy called upon 
to give the answer should give the process of investi- 
gation. 

Geography. 

Geography may be thoroughly taught, to large classes, 
on the collective system. The method of suggestive in- 
terrogation, followed by, or accompanied with, cate- 
chetical examination, seems well adapted for teaching 
this subject to all classes in an elementary school. No 
branch of geography should be taught without the aid 
of a map. Every collective lesson on geography should 
be given in connection with a large map, which should be 
suspended directly before the class. When any country, 
or city, or river, or mountain, is spoken of, its place upon 
the map should l)e pointed out, and its relative bear- 
ings, boundaries or extent should be fully explained. 
Physical geography and history should always be taught 
in connection with descriptive geography. (See p. 194.) 

If a teacher can sketch well, he should draw his own 
maps upon the blackboard. First, tracing the outline 
of the country, he mentions the various kingdoms or seas 
whose boundaries his chalk is tracing; second, with a 
few jottings of his chalk he marks out the principal 
moimtain ranges, forming the great ridges or apexes of 
the water-sheds; third, he traces the rivers winding 
their way from their mountain source or sources to the 
great reservoirs of the waters of the globe. He pauses 
for a moment to review his work, — he has sketched out 
the works of nature as the hand of the Creator has left 
them; now he has to begin to sketch the works of art 
and civilization — he has to people the wilderness, and to 
trace the progressive steps of civilization; upon the banks 
of the tidal rivers, he marks the site of the great mer- 



298 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

caLtile cities; on the shores of the mcuntain streams he 
plants the names of the oldest industrial cities; on the 
coal fields he places those mighty manufacturing cities 
which have almost sprung into existence since the dis- 
covery of the steam-engine — that mightiest monarch of 
civilization and power, which seems to control the des- 
tinies of the world; last of all, he marks the sites of those 
large towns which form the market places of the rural 
population. We said that the work was progressive, — 
every fresh touch of the chalk is associated with some 
new idea, and every fresh idea has its appropriate associ- 
ation with some line or mark upon the board ; — the sketch 
goes on, — it hecoraes more and more finished; — the 
fekeleton becomes lined with sinews, then clothed with 
flesh and blood; — every fresh step towards completion 
excites new interest in the minds cf the boys, — they 
wonder how a few jottings can call up the idea of a 
mountain range, or how a winding line can call up the 
idea of the course of the sparkling river, or how the lit- 
tle mark put for the mountain city should awaken, in 
their imaginations, the sound of the flip flap, flap flip, of 
watei- mills, and the busy hum of industry; they wonder, 
but they know not that the visible picture which their 
master has drawn, with his chalk, would be dull and 
lifeless without the living moral picture with which it is 
associated. Such a lesson is complete in its parts and 
perfect as a whole. It is a complete exemplification of 
what has been called the constructive method of teaching. 
Map-drawing is an excellent means of teaching geog- 
raphy. This exercise, «s we before observed, should be 
Bet apart for home lessons. 

Drawing. 

Collective teaching, combined with the system of home 
studies, is best adapted for giving lessons on this im- 
portant branch of school education. As this truly 
useful branch of knowledge does not appear to have re- 
ceived that amount of attention, in our schools generally, 
which its utility demands, we shall enter more fully into 



DEAWING. 299 

the details of the method by which it should be taught 
in our elementary schools. 

1 The teacher should j^rst explain the elements of form. 

Drawing, like all other branches of instruction, has its 
simple elementary principles; these principles should be 
learnt by the pupil before he can be expected to make 
any satisfactory progress. 

All drawing must be based upon a knowledge of the 
elements of form. Before a boy can draw a line correctly 
he should know something about the nature of that line.. 

All forms, whether in nature or art, may be reduced 
to a few geometrical elements. 

Straight lines should be copied of various lengths 
and positions, and next in order should follow the various 
geometrical figures formed by straight lines. 

The CIRCLE is the simplest and most perfect of all 
CURVED lines; it, in fact, forms the standard by which 
we judge of the relative degree of curvature of the 
various portions of any other curved line. To draw a 
circle by the hand requires some skill; and the acquisi- 
tion is well deserving the trouble. Curves of contrary 
flexure, that is, curves which are convex at one part and 
concave at another, have been called the lines of beauty. 
Examples relating to the circle, with various curved 
figures more or less depending upon it, should be given 
to the pupils. 

These elements of form constitute the alphabet of 
DRAWING. Ko satisfactory progress can be made in 
drawinguntii the pupilhas become thoroughly acquainted 
with these forms. You may as well attempt to teach a 
boy to read before he is acquainted with his alphabet, as 
give him an axe, or any such object, to draw before he 
is made acquainted with the different kinds of lines found 
in its outline. 

In this way drawing is made a useful instrument of a 
higher kind of instruction ; for the pupil is insensibly, 
and at the same time pleasantly, made acquainted with 
the names and properties of geometrical figures. Why 
should the boy who is supposed to be skilful enough %o 



300 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

draw a chair or a lookinor-glass, remain ignorant of the 
names of the geometrical elements of form? A child of 
five years of age readily learns the names and understands 
the construction of the most useful geometrical figures; 
and not only so, but he really feels a pleasure in learning 
them. Now the best way of learning the names and 
definitions of geometrical figures is actually to draw them. 
Children feel as much pleasure in drawing beautiful geo- 
metrical forms, as they do in imitating the drawings of 
natural objects, more especially if they are taught to 
draw these geometrical forms by method. 

The teaching of the first facts of sjeometry ought to be 
considered as one of the most important ends which is to 
be attained by an elementary course of drawing lessons. 
It is not practicable, and, indeed, it is not desirable if it 
Mere practicable, to teach drawing without embracing a 
certain amount of geometrical knowledge. 

The pleasure of success is the best incentive to the 
pupil in learning to draw; but if the exercises are too 
difficult for him, he will give up in despair, believing 
that he has no genius for drawing. A teacher gives a 
boy as a first lesson, a drawing of an Ass to copy; — 
the boy labors earnestly at his task, for he really would 
like to draw a donkey, but notwithstanding his repeated 
efforts, he cannot decidedly say whether his drawing is 
more like a horse than it is like a donkey. That "boy 
should first learn the alphabet of drawing — the leading 
elements of forms— before he attempts to copy such 
difficult pictures. 

2. The teacher should explain the various Urns of construction 
necessary for drawing a figure. 

In these lines of construclion we bring principles to 
aid the eye and the hand. The facility and accuracy 
with which an artist will copy any drawing depends not 
more upon his skilful command of the pencil, than upon 
the method which he adopts, unconsciously it may be, in 
determining the leading points of the outline of the 
<lrawing. The figure or model to be drawn should be 



inixwiSG. 301 

firist examined as a whole, and then the leading points as 
well as the general outline of the drawing should be laid 
down, before any of the minute or subordinate parts are 
attempted. All beautiful figures have symmetry; and, 
therefore, in constructing such figures, there may always 
be found some geometrical forms which will aid us in 
the construction. The habit of constructing figures in 
this way, besides serving the end for which it is directly 
intended, tends very much to improve the observing and 
reasoning powers of the pupil ; it insensibly and gradually 
instils into the young mind a knowledge of geometrical 
principles, and lays the foundation of a more demonstra- 
tive course of geometry. Let us take a few illustra- 
tions. 

A pupil having to draw an octagon for the first time 
would scarcely know how to begin it; but a glance at the 
teacher's lines of construction should give him the idea 
of a method which will enable him to draw the figure 
with facility and precision. 

Fewpersons, even amongst artists, can draw a perfect 
ellipse by the hand; but by attending to a few simple 
principles of construction it becomes easy even to a pupil. 

All points and lines of construction should be drawn 
faintly, in order that they may be readily erased, and 
that they may be readily distinguished from the real lines 
of the drawing. For various illustrations of the methods 
of construction, the reader may consult the writer's work 
on Drawing. 

3. The teacher should explain the manner of using the pencil or 
crayon. 

The drawing pencil, or crayon, as the case may be, 
should be held in the same manner as the common 
writing pen. In order to give freedom of motion to the 
hand, the pupil should be accustomed to hold the pencil 
loosely, with the first two fingers and the thumb at some 
distance from the point. Every line should be seen as it 
is being drawn, and, in order to secure this, all lines 
should be drawn from left to right, and from the top to 
the bottom of the paper. As a general rule, lines should 



302 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

"be first sketched out faintly, and then any inaccuracies 
can be corrected as the line is being finished off. The 
beginning and the end of a line should be fixed before the 
pupil commences to draw it. Certain intermediate points 
should also be fixed before the whole line is attempted to 
be drawn. Great precision cannot be expected from 
young persons at first, nor should they be required to 
dwell too long upon any particular drawing at this early 
stage of their instruction; the patience of a child should 
never be worn out by a fastidious regard to what ia 
called accuracy of finish. The fact is, there is a want 
of flexibility in the muscles of the hand of young chil- 
dren, w^hich time and nature only can fully remedy. 

4. Proper drawing instruments and materials should he provided 

for the pupils. 

The pupils should be provided with slates, drawing- 
books, or drawing-paper. If slates are used, the pupil 
should draw with a long, soft slate-pencil. Black-lead 
pencils, as well as common slate-pencils, if used in 
drawing, should be well-pointed and of sufficient length 
to be used with freedom. If crayons are adopted, they 
should be of different degrees of hardness, and fixed in 
a port-crayon, one at each end. Some teachers may 
prefer pen-and-ink drawings; this mode of drawing is 
exceedingly useful and convenient for schools; in this 
case, the drawings may be first traced with black-lead 
pencil, and then afterwards completed with the pen and 
ink. Each pupil should be provided with a copy of 
some drawing exercises*, so that he may, at certain 
periods, go on with his work w^ithout the constant su- 
pervision of the master. 

5. The pupils should then draw the outlines of familiar objects. 
After the pupil has been made acquainted with the 

* See Tate's ** Drawing-Book for Little Boys and Girls," con- 
taining upwards of one hundred and thirty drawing exercises. 
Price Is. 6d. Longman & Co. 



DRAWING. 305 

leading elements of form, he will find much interest 
in tracing the outlines of familiar objects. Outline 
drawings, it will be observed, are not really representa- 
tions of the objects, for they want the touches of light 
and shade, as well as some other artistic artifices, re- 
quisite for forming a true picture. Notwithstanding 
this, the drawings are sufficiently like the objects which 
they are intended to represent, so as to interest the 
child in the resemblance. The pupil should first copy 
from the drawing of the object, and then he should have 
the object itself placed directly before him to be drawn 
in outline. The master should carefully explain to his 
pupils the different geometrical forms to which the 
various parts of the outline drawing may be referred. 

6. The teacher should explain the method of drawing a figure on 
the blackboard. 

The teacher should construct the figure (which his 
pupils are about to draw) on the blackboard, on an 
ENLARGED SCALE. All the lines of construction should 
be explained by him as he draws them, and all the pupils 
should go along with him, drawing line after line as 
their master proceeds with his exposition. After such 
explanations, the master may leave his pupils for a time 
to copy the drawing from their sheets with more care 
and exactness. The impetus wdtich the master thus 
gives to his class will be sufficient to render it self-acting 
for [the time which he may require to bestow on the 
other classes in the school. 

When a model is to be drawn, it should be placed 
before the pupils in a position similiar to that in which it 
is given in the drawing copy: the master should then 
show the pupils how and why he draws the different lines 
in his representation. 

There are a few important points upon which children 
require to be especially guided. In drawing vertical 
lines, they are very liable to make the lines lean in the 
same direction as the lines of ordinary writing. 
Children should constantly have their attention directed 
to the proportion of the parts of a figure; as, for ex- 



304 reiLOSopiiY oy kdi: cation. 

ample, a line in a drawing may be exactly the same 
length as another line, or it may be twice or thrice the 
length. The position of lines should be carefully noted; 
as, for example, one line may be perpendicular to another 
line; or a line may be drawn exactly between the vertical 
and the hoiizontal; or a line may rise to the left of the 
horizontal; and so on. They are very apt to draw a 
line before its exact position has been realized in their 
own minds. Children, if left to themselves, will often 
begin with some unimportant detail, and thus go on 
drawing without method; here the master should show 
the child what lines to begin with, how to get a good 
general outline, and then how the minute parts should be 
finished off. 

7. The teacher should cai'efulli/ inspect the ivorh done hy 

the pupih. ^ 

While the pupils are at work, the master should move 
rapidly amongst them, giving hints to some, correcting 
the errors of others, and in all cases showing them how 
they should do it, rather than actually doing it for them. 
A few minutes at the close of each lesson should be 
devoted to the examination of the slates or books of the 
pupils. The drawings done at home should also be 
carefully examined by the master. 

8. The master should give his pupih drawing copies for 

home exercises. 

Our present systems of elementary education seem to 
make too little provision for home instruction. Drawing 
at home is admirably adapted for supplying the place of 
evening tasks, which were once given in the form of 
columns of spelling, or paragraphs of geography. Draw- 
ing is rather an amusement than a task, and children 
need very little persuasion to induce them to devote some 
portion of their leisure time to this delightful study. In 
home studies especially, childi'en like to show some 
evidence of their application, with the view of com- 
paring the work of one week with that of another. 



DRAWING. 305 

Exercises on drawiDg, as we have already observed, are 
well calculated to effect this end. 

9. The more advanced pupils should draw the figures upon an 

enlarged scale. 

Young persons can draw small figures much more easily 
than they can draw large ones. Their eye more readily 
catches tlie proportions of small figures than of large 
ones; and their hand is better able to draw short lines 
than long ones. Children have a more perfect perception 
of an object of moderate size than they have of a large 
object; the eye takes in all the parts of the object more 
readily in the former case than in the latter case, and 
thus a more perfect picture is formed upon the retina. 
Hence it is in accordance with nature that a young per- 
son should first copy moderate-sized drawings before he 
attempts to draw upon a large scale. But after he has 
drawn the figures upon a small scale, he should then 
draw them upon a scale of twice, thrice, or even four 
times the size. The drawdng of figures on a large scale 
gives freedom and power to the hand, and precision to 
the judgment. But, besides this, the drawing of figures 
on different scales forms one of the most useful lessons 
in practical mathematics. If a child is required to draw 
a figure on double the scale of any given figure, he sees 
that if he takes the base of his drawing double the 
length of the base of the original figure, then all the 
parts of his figure will be respectively double the corre- 
sponding parts of the original figure; and so on to other 
cases: in this way he will draw a figure of the same 
form as the original, the only difference between the 
two figures being that one is draw-n upon a larger scale 
than the other. 

10. After drawing from, copy^ the pupils should draw from 

familiar objects. 

Copying is the first step in drawing. It is one of the 
easiest acts of imitation. When a pupil makes a copy 
of a drawing, he merely transfers the lines on one sheet 



S06 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

of paper to anotlier; but in this exercise of the faculty 
of imitation, some reasoning and judgment are involved, 
especially if the pupil is called upon to use certain arti- 
fices of construction. To give a representation of a 
natural object, just as it appears to us, is much more 
difficult than to make a copy of a drawing already made 
of the object. The lines which we draw in this case are 
not the exact counterparts of the corresponding lines in 
the object, but merely representations of them, drawn so 
as to convey to the organs of perception an impression 
of the object. In order to understand how this eifect is 
produced, we must be acquainted with the law^s of vision, 
with the effects of light and shade, and with certain 
principles of perspective relating to the foreshortening 
of lines, &c. In a course of elementary instruction in 
drawing, therefore, the pupil should first exercise his eye 
and hand in the copying oi certain geometrical forms and 
simple drawings of natural objects, before he commences 
drawing from actual objects. It is, moreover, necessary 
that the pupil should first copy the drawing of a natural 
object, before he proceeds to give a representation of it 
as it w^ould appear to him when placed before him. 
While the pupil is thus acquiring steadiness of hand and 
accuracy of eye, he is at the same time gradually becom- 
ing acquainted with the art of perspective, or the true 
mode of representing solid figures on a flat surface. In 
order that the drawing may be of service to the pupil, 
the object should be placed before him nearly in the 
same position as that in which it is represented in the 
drawing. A further change of view will sufficiently task 
the skill of the pupil. The master should be at some 
pains to show the coincidence of the lines of the represen- 
tation with the actual appearance. He should show them, 
for example, why all the vertical lines in the object are 
also draw^n vertical in the picture; why certain horizontal 
lines in the object are drawn rising or falling, as the case 
may be, from the horizontal line in the picture; why cer- 
tain lines in the object are drawn much shorter in the 
picture than they really are in the object; and so on,as ex- 
plained in the wa-iter's work on •' Drawing for Schools." 



DRAWING. 307 

The best stand for tbe drawing models is a common 
table. They may be raised, if necessary, by placing 
them on a box or any rectangular object. 

11. Advantages of small drawings for children. 

Some teachers suspend large drawings before their class 
to be copied. This plan is in many respects highly eligible 
for simultaneous instruction when the pupils can be 
placed directly in front of the drawing; but wheii this 
cannot be done, the figure will appear foreshortened and 
distorted to those pupils on each side of it. It should 
also be observed, that drawing from a large figure is not 
strictly an act of imitation, for the copy made by the pupil 
is what the figure would appear to be, supposing it placed 
at the same distance from the eye as the copy. Besides, 
these very large figures are not adapted for home in- 
struction. Now, when each pupil is provided with a 
drawing, he is able to place it directly before him at the 
same distance from his eye as the copy which he is about 
to make; hence he finds it more easy to copy a small 
drawing so placed than to copy a large drawing suspended 
at a distance from his eye. But the greatest, advantage 
of small dra wrings is that they may be taken home by the 
pupils, and copied in their leisure hours. 

Chalk drawings, executed however roughly by 
THE master on THE BLACKBOARD, are really much more 
efficient means of instruction than the suspending of large 
drawing sheets before the class. 

12. The pupils should he taught to draw from Models, after 
the Method of Bupuis. 

A boy may be able to make excellent copies of draw- 
ings or pictures, without being able to give anything like 
a tolerable representation of the simplest natural object; 
this requires distinct cultivation. Model drawing is the 
best way of teaching beginners to draw from nature. 

The following are some of the advantages of teaching 
drawing from models: — 

(1.) Natural objects are generally too difficult for the 



308 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

learuer to begin with; whereas tlie models can be con- 
structed according to a progressive order of difficulty. 

(2.) The models are always under our control; they 
may be readily placed at any distance from the pupil, or 
in any desirable position. 

(3.) They maybe made to represent various geometrical 
forms, and owing to this nniformity of shape, the draw- 
ings taken from one set of models may be compared with 
those taken from another set. 

(4.) The models may be used in combination with one 
another, and thus the different parts of a complex figure 
may be first drawn separately before they are drawn in 
combination. 

(5.) The system of model drawling is especially calcu- 
lated 10 exercise and develop the powers of observation 
and comparison, and forms the best introduction to a 
system of mathematical perspective. 

The models, w^hich the pupils are required to draw, 
are made of wood or some other light material; and they 
are placed in a proper position before the pupil, in order 
to be drawn by him, on paper, or on a common slate. He 
is taught certain easy processes, by which he is enabled 
to find out the apparent size and shape of the various 
parts of the model, so as to give its true representation 
on paper. 

The method of drawing from models was invented by 
M. Dupuis. Its grand feature consists in making per- 
spective drawing a matter of observation on the part of 
the pupil, rather than a subject of mathematical reason- 
ing. The principles, practice, and advantages of the 
method are fully explained in the author's work on 
"Drawing for Schools." 

Weiting. 

This branch of education may be thoroughly taught, 
in a common school, on the collective system. In con- 
ducting such lessons as writing, it is desirable that the 
master should exercise his classes, in all their movements, 
in habits of military precision and promptitude. In order 



WRITING. — GEOMETRY. 309 

to follow out the collective system in relation to this 
subject, the writing to be copied should be written by the 
master on the blackboard, or large sheets containing 
copies should be suspended before the class. After 
the copy books and pens have been distributed, the master 
gives the order, — ''open copybooks;" then all the pupils 
in the class must obey the order at the same moment: 
the master may next say, — "take up pens;" then all the 
pupils must in like manner, promptly and exactly obey 
the order: he may next say, — "prepare to write;" every 
boy, in this case, must place his copy book and his own 
body in the proper position for writing, this position 
having been previously explained by the master; he may 
now say, — "begin writing;" and all the class commence 
their work at the same moment. Similiar orders may be 
given when the pupils have finished the first line. The 
master must then rapidly inspect the copy books, giving 
a hint to each pupil as he passes him, and afterwards he 
will make some more enlarged remarks upon the writing, 
addressed to the whole class, as itgenerally happens that 
the faults of one boy are common to the whole class. 
We do not mean to say that an intelligent teacher will 
slavishly follow this plan, or indeed any other plan that 
might be proposed — at the same time it should be ob- 
served, that the plan here given must contain the leading 
elements of every efficient plan which might be devised. 
Every teacher will, of course, adapt the details of a plan 
to suit his peculiar tastes and habits of thought. 

Mulhauser's method of writing seems to be well 
adapted for giving the first elementary lessons in writing; 
but the method should not be carried beyond its legiti- 
mate limits. In order to give a finish to writing, no 
method should supersede that of carefully prepared copy- 
heads, such as those given by Butterwortb, Foster, Story, 
and others. 

Practical Geometry and Mensuration. 
The pupils should be taught these subjects after the 
collective system of teaching, followed up by individual 
exercises. Each pupil in the class should be provided 



310 



riiiLosoPHY OF education;. 



with a pair of compasses, a ruler, and if possible a scale, 
having a diagonal scale of equal parts on one side, and a 
protractor on the other, and a little triangular square (see 
the author's GeouQetry and Mensuration). The master 
should be provided with a large pair of wooden compasses, 
having a chalk holder at the extremity of one of its legs; 
a long ruler; a large wooden protractor, which need not 
be very exactly made, and a large X square. He should 
construct his iigures without the aid of any other instru- 
ments. 

The master should draw the geometrical problem on 
the blackboard on a large scale, taking care to excite the 
attention of the pupils in the class, time after time, by 
putting various suggestive questions to them, such as we 
have given in connection with the teaching of drawing, 
&c. 

Familiar and common-sense expositions (without as- 
piring to strictness of demonstration) should be given 
relative to the methods of construction. In the same 
manner, the leading problems of mensuration should be 
taught. 

A lesson on Geometry. Subject — A perpendicular, a 
right angle. IllHstrative method. From the concrete 
to the abstract. 

When a man stands upright, he stands perpendicular 
to the floor. The floor of this room is level or hori- 
zontal; the wall of the room is vertical^ and stands per- 



HOIUZONTAL, HJSK. 



pendicular to the level /loor. The surface of still water 
is level or horizontal; a plummet lines hangs vertically; 



GEOMETRY AND MENSURATION. 



311 



the plummet line is perpend icular to the surface of the 
water. It will be seen that the plummet line neither 
inclines to the one side nor to the other, that is to say, 
the openings or angles which it forms with the hori- 
zontal line^ on each side, are equal to each other. 



Is the line o d perpendicular to a b ? To which side 
does it incline ? On which side does it form the greater 
angle or opening ? To which side does c e incline ? 
On which side does ce make the greater angle? 
Whether does c d or c e approach nearer to the perpen- 
dicular position ? To which side does the line o f incline? 
To neither the one side nor the other. Then the angles 
on each side are e>iual to each other, and they are called 
right angles. 

A lesson on Practical Geometry. Subject — To erect a 
perpendicular. Mixed method. Illustrative, construc- 
tive, &c. 

I want to show you how to draw one line perpen- 
dicular to another. From the given point, or mark, d, 
in the straight line a b, I want to erect a perpendicular, 
that is, a line which will neither incline to the one side 
nor to the other. 

On each side of d, I take d f, of the same length as d 
E. (The teacher is supposed to construct the figure as 



he describes it.) I open the legs of my compasses so 
that the opening between the points shall be greater 
than D e or D f; I place one point of my compasses on 



312 ' PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

the mark ov point e, and sweep a portion of a circle; I 
now place tbe point of the compasses on the mark or point 
F, and sweep a portion of another circle, cutting the 
former in o. point which we shall call c; I join d and c, 
and the line d c will be perpendicular to the line a b. 

I shall now explain to you why this mode of construC' 
tion causes c d to be perpendicular to ab. 

There are two things in the construction which cause 
the line d c to be perpendicular to a b: First, d e is 
of the same length as d f; second, the two circles were 
swept with the same radius or opening of the compasses. 
These two things cause the point c to lie directly over, 
ov perpendicularly oxQY thQ point D. If the second radius 
or opening of the compasses be taken less than the first 



opening (here the teacher must describe the figure), 
how will the line c d be inclined ? It will be inclined 
towards the side f. Why ? For the point where the 
two circles cut each other must lie nearer to p than to e. 
But when the openings of the compasses are the same, 
the point wliere the circles cut each other lies neither more 
towards f than towards e, and therefore the line d c is 
equally inclined to a b, that is to say, d c is perpendicular 

to A B. 

Observations . Although this may not be what is 
called a logical demonstration, yet it most certainly 
gives the pupil a sufficient reason for concluding that 
the line c d is perpendicular to a b. It is further 
worthy of observation, that sucli familiar expositions 
prepare the mind of the pupil for following more strictly 
logical demonstrations. I am well aware that some 
persons are disposed to say that the shortest course is 
to carry the pupil through Euclid's Elements ; but, after 



ALGEBRA. 813 

the experience of a quarter of a century as a mathe- 
matical lecturer, I have no hesitation in saying that it is 
quite impracticable to teach young persons the elements 
of Euclid until they have gone over some initiatory course 
of demonstrative geometry, by which the mind of the 
pupil is led to pass from the concrete to the abstract. It 
is true that this initiatory process of demonstration is 
always lengthy ; but it acts like a mechanical power^ for 
what we lose in time we gain in force. 

Algebra. 

This subject should be taught by a demonstrative 
method, — proceeding from the concrete to the abstract. 
The leading simple elementary operations of quantities 
should be first taught in connection with the solution of 
problems. 

A lesson on Algebra. Subject — Equations, &c. 

ProUem. A man bought a cow and a horse for 28?.; 
now the horse cost twice as much as the cow and 4tl. 
more : what did he pay for the cow ? 

Here the problem tells us that the value of the cow 
and the horse equals twenty-eight pounds. I may thea 
write this down in the form of an equation, thus — 

one cow -\- one horse = 28^. 

Now I must put the horse into cows. What does the 
question tell us about the value of the horse ? That a 
horse is worth two cows and 4/. more. Then I may 
write down- 
one horse — 2 cows -{- 41. 

We shall now write down, or substitute^ this value of 
the horse in the first equation; thus, 

one cow + 3 cows -\- U. — 28^. 

What have I here substituted for one horse ? 
Putting the cows together, we have, 

3 cows + U. - 28^. 

If I take away the 4Z. from the left side of this oqua- 



314 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

tion, what must I take away from the other side to keep 
up the equality ? Let us do this, — then, 

3 cows = 24:1., 
. •. one cow = i of 24,1. = 8^. 

that is to say, the value of the cow is 8/. 

Or thus, more symholically. Proceeding as before, we 
Lave, 

one cow + one horse = 2QI. 

Let us, for the sake of convenience, put x for the value 
of the cow in pounds, that is, let 

one cow = x, 
but one horse = 2 cows -f 4?., 
. •. one horse = 2x-\- 4J,. 

Why do I put 2x for the value of " 2 cows"? Be- 
cause X pounds is the value of one cow, and therefore 2 x 
pounds will be the value of two cows. 

Now let us put these values for the cow and the horse 
in our first equation. First writing x for the cow and 2 x 
4" 4/. for the horse, we get, 

xJ^2x-{-4:l. =2Sl., 
.'. 3 0^4-4;. =28Z. 

What have I done here ? Exactly, an x added to 2 a: 
will make 3 x, in the same manner as one cow added to 
two cows will make three cows. 

In order to leave nothing but ^'s on the left side of 
this equation, what must I do ? 

.'. 3a; = 24?., 

.-. x = ^otm. =si., 

that is to say, the value of the cow is 8^. 

Mechanical and Physical Science. 

All our instructions in these sciences should be based 
on observation and experiment. The methods of inter- 
rogation and ellipses are best adapted for giving familiar 
lectures on these subjects. 

A lesson on Chemistry. Subject — To distinguish iron 



CHEMISTRY. 315 

from copper. Mixed method. Expeiimeiital, interrog- 
ative, elliptical, &c. 

Properties derived from observation. What are 
the names of these metals ? The one is called iron^ the 
other copper. The color of the copper is reddish-yellow , 
that of the iron dark grey. They have some properties 
in common. They both have a peculiar glitter or lustre, 
called the melallio lustre^ or the lustre common to all 
metals. Polished wood has a lustre, but it is not the 
metallic lustre. I can readily scratch the copper with my 
knife, but I cannot so easily scratch the iron; what 
inference do you draw from this ? Copper is softer than 
iron. They may be both hammered out, — they are both 
malleable. It takes a very intense heat to melt them, — 
they are not easily melted or fused. They are both drawn 
out into wires, — they are both ductile. 

Uses. Name the uses of iron. Xame the uses of 
copper. On what properties do these uses depend ? 

Ores of iron and copper. This is a specimen of 
iron ore, that of copper ore; the one is called iron pyrites, 
the other copper pyrites; the one is called sulphuret of 
iron, being composed of sulphur and iron, the other is 
called sulphuret of copper, being composed of sulphur 
and copper. Compare their colors! The copper ore has 
the deeper yellow color. I can scratch the copper ore 
with my knife, but I cannot scratch the iron ore, — the 
copper ore is softer than the iron ore. 

Chemical properties or tests. Here is a solution 
of sulphate of copper. What is its color? what i« its 
composition? Here is a solution of iron. What is its 
color, &c.? 

Here are two glasses,— to the first I add a little of 
the solution of the sulphate of iron, and to the other a 
little of the sulphate of copper. To these I add a few 
drops of the tincture of nut galls, — the first becomes 
llach, — the second is slightly discolored. 

Here are two glasses' containing pure water,— to the 
first I add a few drops of sulphate of iron, and to the 
second a few drops of sulphate of copper. To these I first 
add a drop of ammonia, — a light precipitate is formed 



316 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

in both glasses. What are these precipitates? Now 
80 far we have not arrived at any decided test as to 
the nature of the two substances; but I now add to 
each a larger quantity of ammonia, —in the first glass 
the precipitate is redissohed^ and a beautiful deep him 
color is formed, — in the second glass the precipitate 
remains unchanged. And so on. 

Natueal History.* 

Natural History, as a branch of Education, has been 
almost entirely neglected in our Schools, although it 
treats of objects with which we come daily and hourly 
into contact, throughout the whole course of our lives. 
Much time is devoted to subjects which have but a remote 
and indirect bearing on the pupil's future career: yet 
how few there are who come out of the Elementary, or 
even Grammar School, with the knowledge of the name 
and history of the little plant which grows at the side of 
the jDlay-ground, or of the rock which appears in the 
iieis^hboring valley. 

For the neglect of Natural History in our Schools, 
Training Colleges are not a little to blame, for they have 
rarely given it an adequate place in their curriculum; 
and the consequence has been that few teachers have ac- 
quired a knowledge of the subject, or become imbued 
with a love of Natural History pursuits. The techni- 
calities of the science have proved a stumbhng block to 
many, who have not enjoyed the advantages of special 
collegiate instruction. But an intelligent teacher need 
not be scared away by such difficulties, for they may be 
as easily surmounted as the preliminary obstacles which 
bar the entrance into mathematics or classics. Indeed, 
we know no class of men for whom Natural History 
studies are more fitted than for teachers. Most of them 
have sufficient leisure for these pursuits, which have this 
peculiar advantage, that while they improve the mind 
they give health to the body. What more benefical to 

*Coinrauaicated by the author's brother, Mr, Geo. Tate, F. G. S. 



:natural histoky. 317 

the teacher, than to escape from the crowded school- 
room, and to wander over green fields and wild moors, 
through shady forests, or along the solitary shore, and to 
examine, as he passes, the lovely flower, blushing beneath 
the hedge; the rock forming the picturesque cliff; the 
insects flitting in the air; or the finny tribes sporting in 
the waters! 

The introduction of Natural History as a promiuent 
subject of school instruction would, we are persuaded, 
not only impart valuable knowledge, but also improve 
the taste of the pupils, and furnish them with healthful 
sources of enjoyment. It would be an efficient means of 
mental training, well suited to children; for it would 
teach how to observe, to note qualities and forms, to mark 
agreements and differences, and how to describe natural 
objects in precise and distinctive language. The higher 
faculties of the mind are also called into exercise, in dis- 
covering the relations which the varied productions of 
nature have to each other, and in grouping and classify- 
ing them according to these relations. 

There is probably no occupation which might not be 
more or less benefitted by a knowledge of ISl atural History ; 
it has a direct bearing on medicine, agriculture, garden- 
ing, mining, and, indeed, most mechanical employments; 
but to the emigrant — and in these days many of our 
fellow-countrymen seek in distant colonies a more prof- 
itable field of labor than they can find in their native 
land — it is of incalculable value. Through ignorance of 
minerals, quantities of Iron Pyrites, which have the 
yellow, glittering aspect of the noble metal, but which 
are comparatively worthless, have been sent from dis- 
tant lands to England, under the belief that they con- 
tained gold. Not long ago, a California adventurer 
picked up a bright transparent crystal, which he imag- 
ined was a diamond, and for which he refused 200/.; he 
brought it to England, and learned that it was worth- 
less. A little knowledge of Mineralogy, which might 
have been given in an Elementary School, would have 
taught him that this crystal, which he prized so highly, 
was only a six-sided prism of quartz, and that it could 



S18 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

not be a diamond, since tliis valnable gem never assumes 
that form. 

It is no slight recommendation of Natural History, 
that the materials for its study are inexhaustible, and 
that they lie in every man's path. Hence it is, that he 
who has received elementary instruction in this depart- 
ment of science is ever brought into connection with the 
beautiful, the wonderful and the perfect; he can inter- 
rogate Nature, and understand her responses; he is sur- 
rounded with familiar friends — though solitary, he is 
never alone — rocks, plants and animals are to him min- 
istering spirits, full of hidden meanings, and ready to 
contribute to his improvement and happiness. 

To children, Natural History can be most efficiently 
taught out of doors. Here, if anywhere, pleasure may 
be combined with instruction. For this purpose, rambles 
should be taken into the country pretty frequently, 
when the weather is favorable. Let Botany, for exam- 
ple, be the subject studied: the teacher should visit with 
his pupils some pleasant spot where the wild flowers 
grow in profusion; the pupils should gather these plants, 
and the teacher, seated, it may be, on a grassy hillock, 
or on a jutting rock, should, making use of the materials 
collected, explain their character, structure and relations. 
Nor will the intelligent teacher neglect to link with 
direct instruction the legends and the historical or re- 
markable events of the district, so as to invest the nat- 
ural objects with local associations, giving a deeper in- 
terest to his subject. The rector of an academy in Scot- 
land, who is an accomplished Entomologist, acts the 
peripatetic philosopher with his pupils, and from his 
school several good naturalists have a:one forth; and we 
read, not long ago, an account of a National School in 
the south of England, where the children had made no 
inconsiderable progress in Botany. We are persuaded 
that Natural History could be taught to children even 
from an early age, without materially interfering with 
the time devoted to other branches; and we may here- 
after enter into more practical details on the subject. 
In the meantime, we would ask any intelligent teacher 



NATURAL HISTORY. 319 

— would not the adoption of some such plan as we pro- 
pose have a healthful influence both on himself and his 
pupils ? Would it not relieve the tedium of the ordi- 
nary school routine, carried out as it is for the most part 
in confined apartments; and while opening out new 
sources of instruction and enjoyment, would it not lay 
the foundation of much future happiness ? Let him 
fairly attempt to work out our suggestion, and we are 
sure of a satisfactory result. 



320 rmLOSOPHY of edlcatio^'. 

Fart V. 
ON SCITCOL 0EGAN3ZAT10N AND DISCIPLINE. 



SCHOOL ORGANIZATION. 

School orgaDizatioii has respect to all those mechanical 
arrangcmentg, appliances, and artifices, whereby the 
"business of instruction may be facilitated and promoted. 
The following subjects deserve especial attention: — 

L ScHOOL-nriLDiKGS ai^d Fiitixgs. 

The best form of a schoolroom is that of an oblong. It 
should be fitted up with parallel rows of desks, in the 
form of a galler}^, for the different classes; and. a raised 
platform should be erected at one end, from which the 
master can overlook the whole school. The desks should 
be arranged into five or six divisions, to suit the number 
of classes in the school. The room should contain at 
least Y square feet of area for each pupil to be accom- 
modated; and the space of 18 inches should be allowed, 
for each boy on the forms. The class divisions should 
be about 9 feet in length, and may contain from three to 
five rows of parallel desks. Every good school should 
have a separate room called a class-room^ fitted up with 
a gallery having parallel desks, for the purpose of 
enabling the master to give instruction to his pupil- 
teachers, and occasional special lessons or lectures to the 
advanced pupils of the school. This class-room should 
be fitted up with an open fire-place, a large black-board, 
a lecture table, and a case for holding experimental and 
other kinds of school apparatus. 

The schoolroom should be well warmed and thoroughly 



SCIIOOL-BUILDINGS ANI> FITTINGS. 321 

ventilated. The most economical and efficient means of 
warming and ventilating schoolrooms, are those stoves 
which attain both of these objects at the same time. 
There have been some excellent stoves of this kind in- 
troduced into some of our large workshops, but we are 
not aware that they have as yet been sufficiently em- 
ploy; ed in our schools. 

Some schoolrooms are divided into three equal portions, 
the iirst containing space for the children to stand in 
semicircular drafts; the second, seats with desks for 
writing; and the third, a gallery for simultaneous in- 
struction. But it appears to us that this triple division 
interferes very much with the order, quiet, and discipline 
of the school. A eeries of parallel desks, arranged in 
the gallery form, and subdivided for the accommodation 
of the different classes, under proper management, not 
only answers all the ^^s^V^J/^ purposes of this triple di- 
vision, but also secures the uniform and continuous action 
of all the classes, without any of that noise and confusion 
necessarily attendant upon the changes of position, &c., 
connected with the standing drafts. 

The schoolroom should be constructed so as to deaden, 
as much as possible, the echo of the teachers' or the 
children's voices; and the school should be in a quiet, 
cheerful, and healthy neighborhood. The ground 
should be thoroughly drained, and complete water closets 
should be provided for the use of the children. A i^Iay- 
ground should be attached to the schools, where the 
children may amuse themselves with games and gymnastic 
exercises, at the times set apart for that purpose; and 
where also the boys should be daily exercised at drill. 

'J'he best plans of schools have been given by Sir 
James Kay Shuttleworth, in the Minutes of Council for 
the years 1839, 1840, 1844, and 1847-8. Professor 
Moseley's tripartite plan is admirably adapted to the 
higher class of elementary schools. 



322 PHILOSOi'HV OF J^DL'OATIOIS. ,f - 1' 



II. School Avpahatus. 

The Black-Boaed should be supported on an easel in 
front of the class. It should be gufficientl}^ large, with a 
smooth black surface capable of receiving chalk marka. 
All diagrams and expositions should be distinctly 
sketched upon the blackboard with prepared chalk. The 
teacher should be provided with a pointer, and a duster, 
which should be in a damp state when used for rubbing 
out the chalk marks. 

The Text-Books, Maps, Diagrams, Models, AHiy 
PiCTOEiAL Illustrations, should be in keeping witli 
the master's peculiar system of instruction. 

The School Library should contain books suited to 
the attainments, capabilities, and future pursuits of the 
pupils in the school. 

The Experimental Apparatus sliould, at first, be of 
the most simple and inexpensive description. It is better 
'that a master should learn to use a little apparatus with 
smartness and precision, than to be constantly handling 
a great deal with awkwardness and indecision. It is 
important to bear in mind, that reading alone will not 
give a man the powder of manipulation. Let the teacher 
begin with the simplest possible apparatus, and then go 
on progressively until he is able to manipulate with 
perfect instruments. 

Ztst of apparatus for general use. 

Map of the Vv^orld, of Europe, of England, of Palestine , 
of the British Colonies, and a raised physical map of 
England. 

A terrestrial globe, blackboards for all the classes in 
the school, slate pencils, black-lead pencils, pen -holders, 
pencil-holders, earthenware inkwells, strings for slates, 
prepared chalk, admission-book, class register books, 
attendance and absence register, routines of lessons, 
visitor's book, &c. 



classification. 323 

Routines of Lessons, oe Time Tables. 

Each class should have a separate routine of lessons, 
adapted to the attainments and capabilities of the pupils 
composing it. These routines should be suspended before 
their respective classes, and the teacher should enter the 
routine of his class in the fly-leaves left at the beginning 
of his class register. The routines should be framed not 
only vrith regard to the attainments of the respective 
classes, but should also have a due regard to the harmoni- 
ous operation of the vrhole school, and the proper alter- 
nation of subjects, according to the principles which we 
have explained in relation to school routines (see p. 109). 

Classification. 

Without classification, the collective system of instruc- 
tion would be worse than useless. The first business of 
the schoolmaster, therefore, is to throw his pupils into 
classes, where the boys in each class shall have the same, 
or as nearly as possible the same, attainments and capa- 
bilities. The number of classes, in a school, -must de- 
pend upon its size, as well as upon the differences of age 
and attainments of the pupils. A very minute division 
is neither desirable nor practicable. It is not at all 
requisite, to secure efiicient instruction, that all the pu- 
pils in a class should have exactly the same attainments; 
for a good teacher can always adapt his instruction to 
suit boys whose attainments do not differ widely from 
each other. As a general rule, a large school may con- 
tain about eight classes, and a school of an average size 
about five. The pupils in each class should continue 
there for every subject of study until promoted to the 
next class. Under a proper system of management, the 
subdivision of classes into drafts, for the purpose of at- 
taining a more perfect classification, is rarely necessary, 
and, in my opinion, should only be resorted to in special 
cases. 

Basis of classification. The proper basis of classifi- 
cation, as we have already explained (see p. 106), should 



324 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

be the mental power and capabilities of tbe pupils. The 
following method of classification is simple, practicable, 
and sufficiently exact for all ordinary cases: — 

First, arrange the pupils into three great divisions; 
second, subdivide each division into two or more classes. 
Thus, in a school of 120 boys, we should have, on an 
average, 40 boys in each division, and 20 boys in each 
class. 

Tests on qualifications fok the thkee divisions. 
Heading and general intelligence may be taken as the 
best tests for fixing the division to w^hicb any child may 
belong. Reading v^^ords of one or two syllables may be 
taken as the qualification for the third or lowest division; 
reading words of two and three syllables, or reading 
simple sentences with intelligence, as the qualification 
for the second division; and reading words of four or 
any higher number of syllables, or reading the higher 
class books with tolerable intelligence, as the qualifica- 
tion for the first or highest division. 

Tests or qualifications for the classes. In this 
case arithmetic forms the best basis of classification. 
Here a knowledge of principles, not less than mechanical 
dexterity, should enter into our estimate of qualifications. 

If the third division contains two classes, the lower class 
may contain those children that have not commenced 
slate arithmetic, or who have only commenced the sub- 
ject of mental calculation; the higher class may contain 
those children who have commenced slate arithmetic, or 
who have made some progress in mental arithmetic. 

If tbe second division contains two classes, tbe lower 
class may contain those children that have not com- 
pleted the four elementary rules; the higher class those 
that have commenced the subject of reduction. 

If thejirst division contains two classes, the lower class 
may contain those boys who are capable of working 
questions in the rule of three, without the use of frac- 
tions; and the higher class those that are capable of 
understanding fractions and arithmetical problems gen- 
erally. 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 325 



The PuriL-TEACHEEs. 



The pupil-teachers should always be selected for their 
general intelligence, good conduct, and aptitude for 
teaching. The number of pupil-teachers must, of course, 
ilepend upon the size of the school; for a school of 120 
boys, there should be at least four pupil-teachers. It is 
also desirable that there should be a class of assistant 
pupil-teachers, who maybe considered in a state of pro- 
bation, or preparation, for the office of pupil-teacher. 
These assistant pupil-teachers may have a draft of a 
class given to them, for teaching certain subjects which 
may require a greater subdivision of labor. The master 
should constantly bear in mind that the organization 
and efficiency of his school greatly depend upon the 
training of his pupil-teachers. 

SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 

School discipline includes all those means and appli- 
ances whereby the order and healthful action of a school 
are maintained and promoted. 

I. Oedee, &c. 

Under this head may be classed, obedience, punctu- 
ality, silence, cleanliness, politeness, and general good 
conduct. It is quite unnecessary to explain in detail 
how these matters of discij^line should be carried out in 
a school. The following general principles are well 
deserving the teacher's notice. 

1. The teacher should endeavor to establish a principle of 
limited self-government in his school. This will occasionally 
relieve him of some of his most onerous duties; but 
even this is the least important end which will be 
gained by such a plan. The great end to be attained 
by it, is to interest the pupils in the management, and 
proper discipline of the school, — to identify them, as it 
were, with the good name of the school, to have it said 
that the order of the school is mainly due to their own 
good sense and self-government. 



32(5 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

One of the most obvious plans for carrying out this 
plan, is for the teacher to delegate (under supervision) 
his authority, in relation to order, &c., to his pupil- 
teachers. But the principle should not stop here: he 
should endeavor to enlist the co-operation of all the ad- 
vanced pupils, and to govern the whole school by its 
public opinion. The following story given by Jacob 
Abbott, about a hat peg, affords us a graphic illustration 
of the principle which we should wish to see carried 
out. We do not suppose ,that a hat peg would ever be 
the occasion of a dispute, in any English school, but this 
does not affect the principle intended to be illustrated. 

The preceptor of an academy was sitting at his desk, 
at the close of the school, while the pupils were putting 
up their books and leaving tlie room, when a boy came 
in with angry looks, and, with his hat in his hand 
bruised and dusty, advanced to the master's desk, and 
complained that one of his companions had thrown down 
his hat upon the floor, and had almost spoilt it. 

The teacher looked calmly at the mischief, and then 
asked how it happened. 

*' I don't know, sir; I hung it upon my nail, and he 
pulled it down." 

" I wish you would ask liira to come here," said the 
teacher; " ask him pleasantly." 

The accused soon came in, and the two boys stood 
together before the master. 

" There seems to be some difHculty between you two 
boys, about a nail to hang your hat upon. I suppose 
each of you think it is your own nail." 

" Yes, sir," said both the beys. 

** It will be more convenient for me to talk with you 
about it to-morrow, than to night, if you are willing to 
wait. Besides, we can examine it more calmly then. 
But if we put it off till then, you must not talk about it 
in the meantime, blaming one another, and keeping up 
the irritation that you feel. Are you both willing to 
leave it just where it is, till to-morrow, and try to forget 
all about it till then ? T expect I shall find you both 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 327' 

The boys reluctantly consented. The next day the 
master heard the case and settled it, so far as it related 
to the boys. It was easily settled in the morning, 
for they had had time to get calm, and were, after sleep- 
ing away their anger, rather ashamed of the Avhole 
affair, and very desirous to have it forgotten. 

That day, when the hour for transaction of business 
came, the teacher stated to the school that it was neces- 
sary to take some measures to provide each boy with a 
nail for his hat. In order to show that it was necessary, 
he related the circumstances of the quarrel which had 
occurred the day before. He did this, not with such an 
air and manner as to convey the impression that his 
object was to find fault witli the boys, or to expose their 
misconduct, but to show the necessity of doing some- 
thing to remedy the evil which had been the cause of 
so unpleasant an occurrence. Still, though he said 
nothing in the way of reproach or reprehension, and did 
not name the boys, but merely gave a cool and impartial 
narrative of the facts, — the effect, very evidently, w^as to 
bring such quarrels into discredit. A calm review of 
misconduct, after the excitement has gone by, will do 
more to bring it into disgrace, than the most violent in- 
vectives and reproaches, directed against individuals 
guilty of it. 

" Now, boys," continued the master, "will you assist 
me in making arrangements to prevent the recurrence 
of all temptations of this kind hereafter? It is plain that 
every boy ought to have a nail appropriated expressly 
to his use. The first thing to be done is to^ ascertain 
whether there are enough for all. I should like, there- 
fore, to have two committees appointed, — one to count 
and report the number of nails in the entry, and also 
how much room there are for more. The other is to as- 
certain the number of scholars in school. They can 
count all who are here, and, by observing the vacant 
desks, they can ascertain the number absent. When 
this investi oration is made, I will tell you what to do 
next." 

The boys seemed pleased with the plan, and the com- 



328 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 

mittees were appointed, two mera'bers on each. The 
master took care to give the qiiarrellers some share in 
the work, apparently forgetting, from this time, the un- 
pleasant occurrence which had brought up the subject. 

When the boys came to tell bim their results, he 
asked them to make a little memorandum, in writing, 
as he might forget before the time came for reading 
them. They brought him presently a rough scrap of 
paper, with the figures marked upon it. He told them 
he should forget w4jich was the number of the nails, 
and which the number of the scholars unless they wrote 
it down. 

*' It is the custom among men," said he, " to make out 
their report, in such a case, fully so that it w^ould explain 
itself; and I should like you, if you are willing, to make 
out yours a little more distinctly." 

Accordingly, after a little additional explanation, the 
boys made another attempt, and presently returned, with 
something like the following: 

'' The commiitee for counting the naiU report as follows: 

'* Nuniber of nails • - 35. 
*' Boom for - - - 15." 

The other report was very similar, though somewhat 
rudely written and expressed, and both were satisfactory 
to the preceptor, as he plainly showed by the manner in 
which he received them. 

I need not finish the description of this case, by nar- 
rating, particularly, the reading of the reports, the ap- 
pointment of a committee to assign the nails, and to 
paste up the names of the scholars, one to each. The 
work, in such a case, might be done in recesses, and out 
of school hours, and though, at first, the teacher will 
find that it is as much trouble to accomplish business in 
this way as it would be to attend to it directly himself, 
yet, after a very little experience, he will find that his 
pupils will acquire dexterity and readiness, and will be 
able to render him very material assistance in the accom- 
plishment of his plans. 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 329 

2. As far as possible^ the discipline of the school should he 
maintained uithoui the aid of direct punishments; and its health- 
ful tone and action should be rarely promoted hy the application 
of such powerful stimulants as rewards or flattering commenda- 
tions. 

We have already explained pretty fully our views rel- 
ative to the subject of rewards and punishments (see 
p. 115, &c.). We have therefore only further to add that 
when the teacher really finds it necessary that he should 
have recourse to punishments, in order to maintain the 
discipline of his school, he should act upon some grad- 
uated system of secondary punishments, before he 
inflicts the severest of them. Sometimes a look, from 
the teacher, will be sufficient to make a boy sensible of 
his fault; a reproof may supersede the necessity of any 
further punishment; the withdrawal of some privilege 
may do more in correcting a boy of his error, than the 
use of the rod; and the moderate infliction of some cor- 
poral punishment may be more eflicacious in counteract- 
ing crime, than a higher degree of degrading torture. 

Whenever rewards are bestowed on boys of a superior 
mei-it and character, they should be given as mementoes 
of good conduct, and not as possessing any value apart 
from the object for which they are given. 

3. Brill exercises are highly calculated to promote the order 
and healthful action of a school. 

Besides the usual drill exercises in the play-ground, the 
teacher should frequently relieve the monotony of his 
lessons, by requiring his pupils, time after time, to go 
through certain simple gymnastic movements, such as, 
" arms folded," " hands on desks," " stand," " sit," ^'hands 
up," " down," "shoulders up," -'right hand up," "left 
up," "turn," "front," &c. 

Before a teacher commences a lesson, he should drill 
the children into good order; amongst other things they 
should be commanded to sit upright, or to sit exactly in 
front of their desks, or to place their feet in a proper 



330 PHttOSGPHY OF EDUCATION, 

jJOsitioD, or to sit at proper distances from each other, 
or to place their books or slates properly — and so od. 

They should be marched in and out of their classes in 
regular military order. Every gymnastic movement 
should be performed simultaneously, and with smartness 
ana precision. All this tends very much to foster habit* 
of order and prompt obedience. 



THE END. 



THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLIC \T10^??. 



ALDEN'S POLITICAL ECOJ^OMY.-First 
Principles of Political Economy, By Joseph Al- 
den, D. D., LL. D., Principal of the State for- 
mal School at Albany, E". Y., and author of 
" Science of Government," etc., etc. 153 pages. 
16mo., bevelled cloth. 75 cents. 

Valuable, not ouly with regard to its subject-matter, 
but for the way it teaches students how to deal with all 
subjects of that nature. — Ex-Governor Horatio Seymour. 
It teaches young men and young women to reason in poli- 
tics, and tJiat is one of the principal things wanted in this 
country. It is clear, well arranged, and the best treatise 
for the purpose I have ever seen. — Andrew D. White, LL. 
D.y Minister to Germany. No one but a political partisan, 
or a demagogue, can find fault with any of Mr. Alden's 
Btatements, while the clearness with which every subject is 
expressed, and the precision and correctness of the illustra- 
tions with which he makes his meaning plain, are worthy 
of the highest praise.— iV<?i^ York Herald. It is the best in- 
troduction to political economy for beginners in primary 
schools that we have seen, and its universal adoption as a 
part of the causo of elementary study could not fail to re- 
sult in ultimate wide-spread benefit. — Popular Science 
Montldy. The best attempt we have yet seen to put Politi- 
cal Economy into a form suitable for use in schools. — Ed- 
ucational News, Scotland. 



BAEDEEN^S COMMON SCHOOL LAW. 

— Comnioij Scliool Law, a digest of the provis- 
ions of Statute and Common Law as to the relar 
tions of the Teacher to the pnpil, the parent, and 

C. W. BARDEEN, PUBLISHER, SYRACUSE, N. Y. 



THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLIC ATIOKS, 

the district, with four hundred references to le- 
gal decisions in twenty-one different States ; to 
which are added fourteen hundi-ed questions 
given at the first seven Xew York examinations 
for State Certificates. By C. W, Bardeen, editor 
of The School Bulletin. Fourth edition en- 
tirely re-written. 203 pages, 16ino., bevelled 
cloth, 50 cents. 

President White, of Cornell, says: "Not only every 
teaclier in the State, but every member of the Legislature, 
and every Supervisor and School-Commissioner should 
have one. " JSarnes' Educational Monthly remarks : ' * This 
unpretending volume contains more matter than many of 
four times its size. It should bo in the hands of every 
teacher in the United States." The London Schoolmaster, 
(England), says: "It would seem that a similar work, 
treating of the legal rights, duties, and status of English 
schoolmasters, is much needed." 



BAEDEEN'S KODEEICK HUME.— Eod- 
erick Hume, the Story of a KeV York Teacher. 
By C. W. Bardeen. 295 pages. 16mo., bevelled 
cloth, red edges. $1.25. 

The book is vivacious, and the author knows the ground 
he describes. — The Nation. I can certify that it is true to 
life. I have had experience in country and village schools, 
as well as in the schools of the cities. The picture is true 
for all of X\\Qm.Supt. A. J. RicJwff. Roderick Hume 
took possession of me, and the book was finished at one 
sitting, that reached beyond the smallest hour. I have 
joined in the crowd in your triumphal procession. The 

C. W. BARDEEN. PUBLISHER, SYRACUSE, N. Y. 



THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS, 

characters are as vividly painted as any in Dickens, and 
the moral is something that cannot he dodged. — Prof. £Jdr- 
toard North, llamUton College. I began your story yester- 
day, after dinner. I was obliged to lay it aside in the 
afternoon and go to my office, but took it up again in the 
evening. WJien I finished it, I found it was past mid- 
night. Comment as to its being an interesting story is un- 
necessary. Congratulations: you have made a hit. — Supt. 
A. McMillan., Uiica. We welcome this bright, witty, 
vividly told storj--, which is not only interesting reading 
but contains many a profitable hint and suggestion. — Iowa 
Normid Monthly. Roderick Hume belongs to the same 
category with Warren's "Ten Thousand a Year," and 
lieade's "Very Hard Cash," as a book wherein a depart- 
ment of the public economy is shown up with all its faults, 
and in a form that must attract even the idle reader. — Syra- 
cuse Etening Herald. Decidedly fresh, original and 
breezy. — Buffalo Express. Short, spicy, pithy. — Utica Re- 
publican. The story of Roderick Hume, the blight, intel- 
ligent, brave and upright teacher, is a study worthy of 
contemplation.— 2>f>?/ Whig. The mistake of the book is 
in being too matter of fact. It stirs up nests that are still 
occupied hy hornets. — Christian Advocate. Its flashes of wit 
will amply repay the investment. — The Teacher. The 
author has written with a strong hand, and in a style viva- 
cious and unique. — Northern Christian Advocate. To the 
overworked and harrassed teacher we would say, get the 
book, read it, laugh and be comforted. — Wisconsin Journal 
of Education. It is unique, truthful and Instructive. — 
Barnes' Educational Monthly. One need not be a teacher, 
nor a book-agent, nor a school ofiicer, to appreciate the 
abundant merits of this story. — Potsdam Courier. It is 
admirable, full of wise and pithy sayings, and in parts 
brimming over with good-natured satire. — Utica Herald, 

. C. W. BATIDEEN, PUBLISHEK, SYRACUSE, N. Y. 



TBfi SCHOOL BUI^LETIN PUBUOATIONS. 

oFme Series of Question Books. 

vltH rail Answers, ITotes, aperies, Zto., I7 A. F. Southwici 



Common School Series. 

t. Physiology. 

4, Theory and Practice. 

C. U.S. FHstorj' and ClvU Govt. 
10s. Algebra. 

IJ. American Literature. 
1*. Grammar. 

15. Orthography and Etymology. 
^ Arithmetic, 

19. Physical and FoUtlcal Geog. 
2Q. Beading and Punctuation. 



Advanced Series. 

1. Physics. 

2. General Literature. 

6. General History. 

7. Astronomy. 

8. ]\Iythology. 

9. PJietoric. 
H. Botany. 
12. Zoology. 

16. Chemistry. 

17. Geology. 



PRICE TEN CENT S EACH- 

■ni** tiunieriHe s&!e of the Regents' Questions In Arithmetic, 
G«?ogrM>hv. (Grammar, and HpelJinghas led to frequent inquiry for 
simiTar .iJestious in aclvanccd subjects. To meet this demand, wo 
hHT** ha»t prepared this series of Question Books, which, com- 
pareu with the many books of the sort already published, pre* 
Beats liie ioilovving advantages: 

1. liooN OMY.— The teacher need purchase books onlv on the sub- 
jects upon vvhlch special help is needed. Frequently a .11.50 book 
is bought for the sake of a few questions in a single study. Here, 
the studies may be taken up one at a time, a special advantage in 
New York, since applications for State Certificates may now pre- 
sent themselves for examination in only part of the subjects, and re- 
ceive partial certificates to be exchanged for full certificates when 
all tfi€ hranches have^l)een passed. The same plan is very gener- 
ally pursued by county superintendents and commissioners who 
are eiicouraging their teachers to prepare themselves for higher 
certificates. 

2. Thokoughness.— Each subject occupies from 32 to 40 pages. 
carefully compiled, and referring to the leading text-books. The 
((uestions in large type compare In number with those given in 
other Question i3ooks, while besides these there are many notes, 
queries, and practical hints, that fill the learner's mind xvith sug- 
gestions to further investigation and personal thought upon tJie sub- 
ject. In this particular these Question Books escape the severe 
ci-iticism that has been passed upon the mere Cramming-Books. 

3. Utility.— The Dime Question Books are printed in three 
sizes of tj'pe, carefully distinguishing which is most essential 
that the teacher who has but little time, may concentrate it upon 
the salient points, and afterward fill in the interesting but less im- 
portant matter at leisure. The handsome page and the clear 
lype add much to the attractiveness of the series. 

The Entire Series is nowready. Each sent Post-paid for 10 cts. 
Each Series of Ten in one book, cloth bound, ^1.50. 

Address C. W. BAKDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N, Y. 



What is Said of the I>iiiie Question IJooks. 



From John Kennedv, State Conductor of hmiilv'o'. New 
York, and author or " Tlic Philosophy of Schunl Discipline," • Ths 
Sch()t,l and the Family.'^ etc. : 

Schenectady, N. Y., October 3, 1882. 
C U' . Bardeen, Esq. : 

My Dear Sir— I wish to thank you for copies of SouTinvif k'9 
Di3tE QUJ5STI0X Books. I have examined tlieni with pleasure. 
A Question book can be so easily made a bad thing, and the tinan- 
cia! temptation to making bad question books is so great tliat I 
aiu really delighted to find a good question book. 

The bad question book fosters cram ; the good one suggests 
study. Mr. Southwick's system is good. It is Imppy and nour- 
ishing. I hope you may sell a million of them. 

Yours truly, John Kenkkdv. 

WHAT THB BEST SCHOOL JOURNALS SAY. 

** Valuable little booksforschooluse."— JVcwi;nfifJa7uf J<>,7,?7i£il 
«/ Education. 

"Books that teachers will need and will buy."— P?a«.'fiml 
Tt<uher, Chicago. 

"Jhe subject-matter is sufQcient to enable any candidate to 
pass a favorable examination."— The Teacher, Philadelphia. 

♦• Wo have looked them over several times without getting any 
llffl'.t on the puzzle Low such little books contrive to hold so 
mncb."— Iowa School Journal. 

•• The plan is to systematize and render easier the plan of ask- 
ing questions on these general subjects, and-ihe author has ad- 
mirably succeeded. Teachers will find them valuable aid,s."— 
Indianapolis Journal. 

" No teacher or student will fail to receive many times their 
money's worth."— Cowman ScTiool Visitor. 

*' The persons are few who may not be aided by these little 
totnmefi."— School Newx. 

" FuU answers are furnished, with notes and queries, and the 
aeries is well calculated to be helpful to the teacher."— Por«<i»(J 
Transcript 

"They are epitomes of knowledge and convenience, serving 
poplls as well as instructors."— Boston Commonwealth. 

** In these days of written ordeals for aspiring teachers, and 
of competitive Civil Service examinations, anything which is con- 
ducive to the * cramming process ' is eagerly sought. Hence, there 
has arisen a demand for comprehensive summaries and for series 



of questions aimlogous to those usually given. General informfti* 
tion on any subject of Importance Is desirable; yet the sort of 
ftudy indicated above has atendency to cheap, superficial, patch- 
work cidUire. The AUTHOltOFTHE ABOVE SERIES HAS, HOW- 
KYEK, DISl'LAYED KAKE ABILITY AS A QUESTIONEK. . Nor doCS 

be Stop with questions ; many of them are answered clearly and 
fully. There are notes, references, bits of curious information, 
and scores of short, sharp, unanswered queries well adapted to 
stimulate research on the part of the student. Nothing profound 
is attempted; our author comes directly to the point."— 2'/i« 
Student. 

" The immense sale of the Kegents' Questions in Arithmetic, 
Geography, Grammar and Spelling has led to frequent inquiry for 
similar questions in advanced subjects. To meet this demand, tho 
publisher has had prepared a series of Question Books, of which 
these four are among the earliest issues. Mr Southwick, a grad- 
uate of a New England college and a teacher of long experience, 
possesses, like the late W. D. Henkle, of Ohio, a rare faculty for 
asking questions, and a still rarer faculty for answering them. 
Nothing could be more different than these volumes from the dry, 
categorical catalogue prepared by the man who wants to make out 
sixty questions on a subject, and keeps counting them up on hl» 
fingers to see how soon he can get through. Mr. Southwick is full 
of his subject— enthusiastic, wary, everywhere stimulating. II» 
selects the most essential points, asks his questions simply, an- 
swers them clearly and fully: but he is not satislled with this. 
Every page brims with notes— now a bit of Information, now a 
good-natured satire, now a score of short, sharp questions, that 
irresistibly set one to thinking. It there is really an Art of Quea- 
tJoning, Mr. Southwick Is master of it. We know of no other 
question-books so entertaining to the general reader. The old 
fisherman complained of the stories In Webster's Dictionary that 
they were * unco' short.' In these books there is brevity, but the 
author's warm individuality breathes through the Isolated ques- 
tions and maKes them an organized whole, sure of and worthy ai 
thoughtful attention. "~iVorl?i«»7» Indiana Hct^iool Journal. 



-\ 



doose (J aines H.) SLudves in Articulation: a study and drill-book in alpha- 
betic elements of the English language. Uh thousand. Cloth, 16mo, pp.70. , -50 

On the Province of Methods of Teaching. A professional study. With • 

an introduction by Prof. Charles W. Bennett, D.D. Cloth, 16mo, pp. 376. 1 00 

Pestalozzian Series of , Arithmetics. First Year Arithmetic, Teacher's.' 

Manual and First-Year Text-Book for pupils in the first grade, first year, ^ 

of public schools. Based upon Pestalozzi's method of teaching elenien- ^ 

tary number. Boards, l6mo, pp. 217 50 

. PupiVs Edition. Boards, l6ino, pp. 15d 35 

Hughes (James L.) Mistakes in Teaching. Ainerxcan Edition. With 

Contents and Index. Cloth, Ifinio. pp. 135 t 50 

Huntington (Kt. Rev. F. D.) Unconscious Tuitior}. Third Edition. Paper, ' ' 

16mo, pp. 45 13 

Hutton (ti. H.) A Manual of Mensuration, for use in Common Schools and 

Academies. Boards. 12irio, j^n. 100 '. 5^1 

Jackson (E. P.) Class-Record Cards. 90 white and 10 eolore^J cards 50 

Joiinsun'8 Chart of Astronomy. On blue enamelled cloth, 40x413 inches J 50 

Kt'iler (C.) Monthlu Report Cards. 2?iix4 inches. Per hundred; 100 

Ken M«cly (John.) The Philosophy of Scliool Discipline. Paper, 16mo, -pp. 23 15 

Lawrence (E. C.) Recreations in Ancient Fields. Cloth. 12mo, pp. 200 1 00 

l.ocke (John.) Some r/ioug/its concerning Edncati.-'. Paperr24mo, pp. 192. 25 
Miips for the Wall. New York Stote," revise I to the pre^ient tune, colored 

uy counties and towns. 2V2x3 feet, mounted on cloth 2 00 

THE SAME, 68x74 inches, cloth, the finest State map ever issued.,... ....1^ 00 

United States, 3^4x5 feet, with map of the world on back. pa|)er 2 00 

Johnston's National Maps, 42x50 inches, clotli, colored on copper. 

1. Hemispheres 5 00 

2. The World, Mercator's Projection n 5 00 

3. The United States, Mexico, and Canada 5 o;) 

4. Europe 5 00 

5. South America 5 0i» 

6. Asia 5 wo 

7. Africa : 5 00 

The Set, Seven Maps 3o ( t) 

The Same, 27x33 inches, each ...,...;. 8 ^i^- 

Per set, seven maps 45 on 

BISECTED MAPS. United States sawn into States '. ' 75 

Also, New York State sawn into C<>*inties ..^ 75 

Marenholz-Buelow (B's.) The School Work- shop. Paper, 16mo, pp. 27 . . . 15 

meiklejohn (J, M. D.) Tlie New Education. 16mo, pp. 35 -15 

Miller (Warner.) Education as a Dcp't of Govermnent. Paper,8vo, itp. 12. 15 

Milton (John). A Small Tractate of Education. Paper, 16mo, pp. 2:i v. 25 

Murray (David.) The Use and Ahnset f Exam inathons. Paper, 8vo, pp. 19. 25 
New York State E.camination Questions, Being the questions given at all the 

Examinations for State Certificates from the hegininng to the present 
time, embracing 4500 questions in Reading, Writing, Drawing, Arithnre- 
tic. Geography, Grammar, United States History, General History, 
Algebra, Geometry. Book-Keeping, Composition, Rhetoric, Literature, 
Civil Government, Physiology, Zoology, Botany, Geology, Mineralogy, 
Physics, Methods, School Economv, School Law, together with Latin, 
as an optional in the place of Geometry. Tlexible Clotn, l6mo, pp. 15u; ^ 25 
Northam (Henry C.) Civil Government for Common Schools. Cloth, 16mo. 

pp. 185 75 

Fixing the Facts of American HistomiJ- Cloth, 12ino, pp, 3'JO. 75 

Northrop (B. G.) High Schools. Paper, 8vo, pp. 26. 25 

Northrup -(A. J.) Camps and Tramps in the Adirondacks. 16mo, pp. 302. 

Paper, 50 cents; in Cloth 1 25 

Number Lessons. After the Grube Method. On heavy card-board, 7x11.. 10 

One Hundred Choice Selections. Paper, r2mo, pp. 192. Each 30 

Practical Work in the School Room, by three New York teachers. Part - 

J. The Human Body. Cloth, 12mo, pp. 139.. ...... ^. 75 

Payne (Joseph.) Lectwm. on the^Art of B^umtior^yKm. other lectures and 

•essays. Svo, pp. 38t.f». IS.--.-|l-A--l-^ v .v ^^ 

Payne (W. H.) A Shm^Hist'mM of JEliJbJWn. "*erfl|: a reprint of the 

article Education fronT the Dtir edition of the Encyclopaedia Brit annica.. 

With an introduction, bibliography, notes, and references. Cloth, 16mo, 

pp. 105 ■■• V ^° 

Periodicals The School Bulletin and New York State Educational Jourrjal. 

Establislied 1874. Monthly. 16 pp., 10x14. Per year ....100 

- — Bound Vols. I-IX. Cl«th; 200 pp., each 2 00 

The School Room. A Monthly Journal of Practical Help- to Ycung 

Teachers. 16pp., 7x11. Per year .> 50 




%.*^ «'^'' \/ yM^' \.^^ '^ 






























^^'%/^^P'/ .^'^'^"^ ^.Y/M\W .^^^ 



5.^r ^ ^ 




i^*^ 




^^ NOV 83 

HSl^ N. MANCHESTER, 



^"'^^^ 





,4< 






